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Chargify Simplifies Recurring Billing
Alex HafrenDecember 4, 2010
Jonathan Kay from Grasshopper Group was in my interview to tell their Chargify product that let you easily build recurring billing system into your application.
Hello Mr. Kay, great to meet you. You are a Ambassador of Buzz at Grasshopper Group and one of your products is Chargify. Could you tell us what Chargify is?
Chargify is a recurring billing system which helps SaaS companies grow their business. The example I like to use is, if you go to Netflix and sign up for a video subscription. You enter your billing, shipping, and credit card info. Your credit card then gets charged, and money gets deposited in Netflix’s merchant account. All the stuff that happens on the back end that allows those 2 transactions to occur – that is what Chargify handles seamlessly for you.
What are your primary differentiators. How do you make things different than your competitors?
We differentiate from our competitors in a few key areas, let me outline:
- Security – We are Level 1 PCI Compliant*: Which is the highest level of payment card security, and saves our merchants tons of time with auditing paperwork.
- Customer Service – We provide 24/7 US based phone support
- Pricing – We do not charge a transaction fee or a % of revenue, we use a tiered pricing model. This allows us to get paid based on the number of paying customers our merchants have.
- Experience – A lot of our competitors are brand new to the billing industry. Chargify was grown out of the Grasshopper Group family…which means we have had over 7 years of experience and have billed millions and millions of transactions.
So what benefits do you see in your service instead of building own billing system?
I love this question! In fact, I would recommend any and all of our competitors to an entrepreneur before I would recommend building your own system. If you are just starting out, you most likely have 1 developer, and his / her time is extremely valuable (and expensive). They need to be spending time making your PRODUCT better, so people will pay for it in the first place. It doesn’t make sense to have them spend multiple months creating a custom billing system. And that doesn’t even mention the time spent maintaining a system like that.
How do you see your main segment? Who the service is aimed at?
Our service is very much aimed at that “badass developer” – hence Charlie the Bull (our mascot) and the dollar sign nose ring. Most of our customers are cool new SaaS companies just beginning to monetize their product/service. Developers tend to be the audience we connect with the most as they are the ones who would really FEEL the pain of having to create a custom billing system. They are also the ones who spend the time integrating via our API.
Could you tell how Chargify plans to grow? How do you promote your service?
We plan on growing Chargify very similar to how we have grown our other Grasshopper Group products. We tend to use an effective balance of traditional marketing and guerilla / “on the ground” tactics. For instance, we run a blog, do SEO, and might engage in some light radio advertising. However, we also buy pizza and beer for TONS of Ruby groups across the country, sponsor/participate in Rails Rumble, and go to lots of barcamps. So really, we try and meet as many entrepreneurs as we can!
Last but not least, how do you see the future of your business?
I think there is a ton of potential for growth in this industry. The “SaaS” and recurring billing pricing model is becoming more and more popular (and profitable) and people will need a service to help them make money. Hopefully as these brilliant entrepreneurs grow their businesses, they will grow with Chargify.
Thank you for an interview and all the best!
Chargify info:
*We are currently working towards Level 1 PCI compliance, but are not certified yet.