How InterPayments and Chargent Helped Fram Monument Build a Smarter Salesforce Payment Strategy

B2C SMBs often face a difficult balance when managing credit card processing costs: controlling expenses without compromising the customer experience. Fram Monument, a Maryland-based provider of custom memorial products, was navigating this challenge firsthand.

Like many growing businesses, the company faced the challenge of managing rising payment processing costs while protecting the customer experience it had worked to build. “We were paying eight to ten thousand dollars a month to process payments…a hundred grand a year that could be sitting in my business,” says Niv Fishbein, CEO of Fram Monument. The company needed a solution that would allow it to introduce surcharging without replacing its existing Salesforce payment environment powered by Chargent. InterPayments provided the compliance expertise and surcharge technology needed to work alongside Chargent, creating a full-stack Salesforce payment solution that enabled Fram Monument to maximize savings.

The program quickly became more than a cost recovery initiative: it became a strategic tool for optimizing payment behavior. By introducing a transparent surcharge on credit card transactions, Fram Monument encouraged customers to consider lower-cost payment options, including eCheck and debit. As a result, an estimated 70% of customers migrated from credit card payments to eCheck or debit, significantly reducing the company’s reliance on higher-cost card transactions. Fram Monument noted that the migration was so substantial that they had to more than triple their monthly eCheck allotment.

Beyond cost recovery, the program gave Fram Monument confidence that its new payment strategy was built on a clear and compliant foundation. The company rated both surcharge rules and requirements 5/5 (“Extremely Clear”) and its confidence in ongoing card-brand and state-level compliance 5/5 (“Extremely Confident”), demonstrating how a well-managed surcharge program can provide transparency, trust, and long-term value. “I didn’t even realize that I could have compliance issues. Once I knew that was a possibility, the fact that [InterPayments] would keep me in line…I don’t have any issues,” says Niv. For businesses processing payments through Salesforce with Chargent, the right surcharge strategy can help reduce payment costs without changing the customer experience or adding complexity.

Taking a More Strategic Approach to Payments

Challenge	Solution
Fram Monument wanted to add surcharging without replacing its existing Salesforce payment workflow. InterPayments needed to integrate seamlessly into Fram Monument’s Salesforce environment while maintaining the workflows already in place.	In collaboration with Chargent, InterPayments delivered an integrated program around Fram’s existing stack, including Salesforce, and Auth.Net, enabling Fram Monument to recover credit card processing costs while maintaining its existing payment workflows.
Fram Monument needed to ensure compliance with evolving surcharge regulations without adding operational complexity.	InterPayments managed the required compliance steps before launch, including: Merchant Surcharge Disclosure Form submission, where a business provides required details about its surcharge program so card brands and related parties have the information needed before launch 30-day notification process, the advance notice period required before starting surcharging, giving the relevant card brands or parties time to review the planned program before it goes live InterPayments maintains ongoing compliance with evolving federal, state, and card-brand requirements, enabling Fram to manage its surcharge program with confidence.
Fram Monument wanted to enable surcharging across multiple payment channels.	InterPayments structured the program as a brand-level surcharge configuration, maintaining compliant surcharge rates across all credit card brands. InterPayments also enabled Fram Monument to apply compliant surcharging across multiple channels, including eCommerce and phone orders.

Challenge

Solution

Fram Monument wanted to add surcharging without replacing its existing Salesforce payment workflow. InterPayments needed to integrate seamlessly into Fram Monument’s Salesforce environment while maintaining the workflows already in place.

In collaboration with Chargent, InterPayments delivered an integrated program around Fram’s existing stack, including Salesforce, and Auth.Net, enabling Fram Monument to recover credit card processing costs while maintaining its existing payment workflows.

Fram Monument needed to ensure compliance with evolving surcharge regulations without adding operational complexity.

InterPayments managed the required compliance steps before launch, including:

Merchant Surcharge Disclosure Form submission, where a business provides required details about its surcharge program so card brands and related parties have the information needed before launch
30-day notification process, the advance notice period required before starting surcharging, giving the relevant card brands or parties time to review the planned program before it goes live

InterPayments maintains ongoing compliance with evolving federal, state, and card-brand requirements, enabling Fram to manage its surcharge program with confidence.

Fram Monument wanted to enable surcharging across multiple payment channels.

InterPayments structured the program as a brand-level surcharge configuration, maintaining compliant surcharge rates across all credit card brands. InterPayments also enabled Fram Monument to apply compliant surcharging across multiple channels, including eCommerce and phone orders.

Results

Pre-Surcharging Card Fees, Annual: $120,000

Estimated Annual Savings from Surcharging: 99%

Time to ROI: Immediate

Implementation Timeline: About 4-6 weeks

By implementing surcharging, Fram Monument was able to recover an average of 2.8% on each credit card transaction – nearly all of their cost of accepting credit cards. But this is not where the majority of the savings came from. Instead, surcharging positively impacted payment behavior, as customers switched to cheaper forms of payment like eCheck and debit. In aggregate, this led to massive savings for the company. “I’ve seen a huge shift in how my customers pay as a result. There’s no question for me that we’re saving,” says Niv.

Payment costs represent more than an expense. They can act as a drag that limits opportunities to invest in customer experience, operations, and growth initiatives that matter most. Fram Monument’s journey highlights the opportunity to turn cost recovery into a strategic payment advantage. By implementing a compliant approach that improved efficiency and encouraged lower-cost payment methods, Fram Monument created a more optimized payment experience while building greater value from its existing payment infrastructure.

Together, InterPayments and Chargent helped Fram Monument demonstrate what is possible when payments are treated as a strategic opportunity rather than simply a cost center. For merchants facing rising payment expenses, the opportunity extends beyond recovering costs. A thoughtfully designed payment strategy can help optimize payment behavior, improve operational efficiency, and create lasting business value.

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