Credit card processing fees were quietly draining margin at Andean Chevrolet. In June alone, the dealership spent nearly $40,000 on credit card processing. That level of expense limited their flexibility, and hurt their bottom line profit.
At the same time, their team was managing deposits, chargebacks, and reports across multiple websites. Reconciliation required extra steps. Strategic reporting insights took extra time. They knew they needed to reduce costs and simplify their back office process without risking their Customer Satisfaction Index (CSI) score.
Here’s how they did both with PayJunction’s integrated SmartSurcharge™ program.
The Challenge: High Fees and Operational Complexity
Processing expenses had reached $40,000 in a single month. Absorbing that cost meant less margin to reinvest in staff, facilities, and growth. Plus, the system was fragmented. Daily reports were in one portal. Monthly reporting in another. Chargebacks somewhere else.
It worked, but it was inefficient. And there was an essential question to consider, if they implemented a surcharge, would customers push back? Would CSI decline? Surcharging was becoming common in the market, but bringing it into the dealership required confidence in compliance and execution.
They needed a solution that reduced cost and simplified operations at the same time.
The Solution: Integrated SmartSurcharge
Andean Chevrolet implemented compliant SmartSurcharge alongside PayJunction’s No-code Payments Integration®. The immediate impact came from the combination.
No-code Payments Integration allowed Andean to keep their current Dealer Management System, Dealertrack, and upgrade their integrated payments. They could now offset eligible credit card costs with proper disclosures and card brand compliance with SmartSurcharge.
Customers were presented with clear options and full transparency at the point of payment. The dealership lowered its true net cost rather than simply absorbing fees or increasing prices across the board.
After switching in August and implementing surcharging, their December net credit card cost dropped to $6,000.
The difference from where they started earlier in the year, spending $40,000 on processing in a single month, was stark. Even better? Implementation was simple.
“Don’t be afraid to try because it’s very simple, much easier than I thought. I was really expecting a week of struggling and teaching people, and it turned out to be 2 hours."
Janet Otwell, Controller
Staff were able to be fully trained in less than two hours because the browser extension integrates directly into their existing workflow. Payment amounts auto-populate. Transactions process instantly. No rekeying. No switching systems.
Reconciliation became dramatically easier.
With one login, the team can access daily deposits, monthly reports, and chargebacks. The cashier records the daily surcharge total as a lump sum, and month-end balancing is handled through a simple transaction analysis.
The whole system not only cuts costs dramatically, it’s faster, cleaner, and easier to manage.
The Result: Minimal Pushback and No Reported CSI Impact
The biggest initial concern around surcharge was the customer reaction. But overall feedback has been overwhelmingly neutral to positive.
“We’ve had absolutely no kickback, no effect over CSI… absolutely nothing.”
Shaun Strieb, GM
Many customers were already familiar with surcharging in other industries.
“They’ll come to us like, ‘Oh wow, we’re used to this already.’”
Shaun Strieb, GM
Customers understand the difference between transparent surcharging and hidden price increases. And, with PayJunction’s customer facing terminals, they see the fee on the terminal when they’re getting ready to pay and have the freedom to select the payment option that works best for them.
If the dealership raises service prices across the board to absorb credit card processing fees, every customer pays more. With compliant surcharging, only customers choosing to use a credit card pay the associated cost since debit remains an option.
That freedom of choice matters to customers, and it means that CSI has remained strong.
The Bottom Line
“I mean there's just no issues. It just works.”
Janet Otwell, Controller
By implementing compliant SmartSurcharge together with PayJunction’s transparent pricing and integrated platform, Andean Chevrolet reduced monthly net credit card costs from $40,000 to $6,000.
- They’re offsetting over 70% of their credit card fees while protecting CSI
- They’ve consolidated reporting into one login and simplified reconciliation.
- They’re benefiting from a strengthened bottom line and increased net-profits.
“I love this, we should have done this sooner.”
Shaun Strieb, GM
For Andean Chevrolet, the result of integrating SmartSurcharge is clear. Lower costs. Simpler operations. Preserved customer experience.
