Twenty-plus years in payment processing. St. George, Utah. Working with merchants nationwide.
Without confusing their customers. Without risking compliance problems. Without getting trapped in the wrong processor setup.
That's the work. The rest of this page is how I got here, why I do it the way I do, and what working with me actually looks like.
For twenty-plus years I worked inside the payment processing industry — banking, merchant services, ISO operations. I watched the same script play out hundreds of times: a small-business owner signs up with a big-box processor based on a five-minute pitch, doesn't read the statement, and gets quietly upcharged for years.
Sometimes the numbers were small. A $40 PCI fee that should have been $15. A handful of "non-qualified" downgrades nobody bothered to explain. A 0.10% interchange differential that adds up to $400 a month at scale. None of it would bankrupt a business by itself. But added together, year after year, it's the difference between the owner buying a second truck or hiring another technician — and not.
The processors weren't villains. Most of the reps were just doing what they were trained to do: pitch a rate, board the merchant, move on. Nobody on either side of the conversation had time to read a statement line by line and ask, Is this actually a good fit? So nobody did. And the merchant kept paying.
I built MerchaMax because I'd rather be the guy who reads the statement first and recommends second — even when the recommendation is "stay where you are and renegotiate." About 30% of the analyses I run end that way. No commission, no implementation revenue, no story to put on a sales page. Just an honest answer.
Most processor reps quote rates without ever looking at your statement. I look at the statement first. Effective rate, downgrades, junk fees, debit-vs-rewards mix, hidden markups — the actual math of what you're paying. Then we talk.
Not every business should switch processors. Some setups are decent and just need a renegotiation email. About 30% of analyses I run end with "stay and renegotiate" — and I tell people that when it's true. Honest analysis beats a pre-determined recommendation every time.
I'm an ISO. When a merchant boards on a processor I work with, I earn a residual on the processing volume — that's how I make my living. The way I keep that honest: I won't recommend a switch unless the math actually saves you money. The math has to work for you first; the residuals follow.
The cheapest engagement is the one that saves you nothing. If the analysis or the implementation doesn't return more than the cost in the first 12 months, I'd rather you keep your money. That standard cuts both ways: it filters out tire-kicker engagements and forces honest projections on my side.
Most of my clients are SMBs doing $15k–$1M a month in card volume across the verticals you'd expect: restaurants and QSRs, retail stores, salons and spas, fitness studios, home services trades (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, roofing, landscaping, cleaning), auto repair, healthcare practices, professional services, property management, municipalities, nonprofits, e-commerce, B2B and wholesale.
I also work with high-risk verticals that big-box processors won't touch or won't price honestly: peptides, nutraceuticals, supplements, gaming and sweepstakes, and merchants with elevated chargeback profiles. If your business has been declined or terminated by another processor, talk to me before you assume you're stuck — there's almost always a path, but it has to be priced and structured correctly.
See the full list of industries →I'll send back a line-by-line breakdown in 24 hours. Real numbers, plain English. If there's no room to save, you'll know.
Upload your statement →No pitch. Just questions about your current processor and a quick read on whether there's room to save.
Book the call →St. George, Utah. Working with merchants nationwide.
Twenty-plus years inside payment processing. ISO partnerships across multiple processors and gateways — chosen so the right merchant lands on the right platform every time.
Organizer and MC at 1 Million Cups St. George, every Wednesday 9 AM. Father, husband, grandpa.