APX - General

What is APX?

Abacus Payment Exchange (APX) is an integrated payment solution that uses a single platform to process Credit Card and ACH payments within CARET Legal, Amicus Billing, Amicus Cloud, AbacusLaw by CARET, and OfficeTools by CARET, so you get paid quickly. 

It also makes payments easy for your clients! This allows you to collect payments to your operating and trust accounts.

Is APX PCI Compliant?

Yes, all sensitive data are securely stored with our payment processor partner. Our payment processor partner fulfills the PCI compliant requirements.

Onboarding and adding Credit Card, Banking and other sensitive data occur via a secured web browser provided by our payment processor partner.

We use a token to communication between the application and our payment processing partner.
Since there are no sensitive data stored locally, a firm using APX will not have to file any PCI related paperwork. Good handling practices for sensitive information is always required.

Does APX comply with ABA IOLTA rules?

Yes, APX is configured to process all fees from the operating account for APX trust transactions. This is done as part of the onboarding process where you define your operating and trust bank account.

Note: You cannot onboard your trust account without having onboarded the operating bank account. This is normally done at the same time, but you can choose to onboard the trust later.

Does APX do hard checks or soft checks?

APX performs a soft check as part of the underwriting process after the merchant application (onboarding) submission.

The soft credit check will have no impact on the credit score. In addition, soft credit check will not show up on their credit report.

How long does it take for my application to be approved?

Generally, one business day, provided our payment processing partner does not require further information to complete the underwriting process.

If further information is required, such as a home address, or a void check, you will be notified, and we will provide a method which allows you to securely upload the required document(s).

Does APX have any capability that allows our clients to pay directly?

Yes, the application provides two options: 

1. The firm can invite their client to pay via the application client portal.
2. The firm can use the PayNow feature. This feature allows the firm to send a payment request by email where the firm’s client can click on a link to open a secured portal to make the payment.

Does APX have separate accounts for operating and trust accounts?

Yes, the firm can onboard both the operating and trust accounts at the same time or choose to onboard the trust account later.

What are the associated APX fees?

APX fees can be found here: www.abacusnext.com/apx-pricing.

When are APX fees taken from my account and are they done on individual transactions?

Fees are normally taken out the same day as your deposit posts but done in separate transactions for ease of reconciliation. The fees are withdrawn in total for one day’s transaction.

Note: Details of the fees can be seen on your APX Transaction report.

Will fees be taken from the Trust account?

In keeping with the trust/IOLTA requirements, all transaction fees for APX trust transactions are taken from the operating account and not the trust account.

Are there fees for Refunds or Voids?

There are no fees for either Refunds or Voids.

When can I expect to see the transaction in my bank account?

Card and ACH transactions fund in two business days if submitted by the daily cutoff time of 9:30pm EST.  Any transactions submitted after this cutoff time will process in the next business day’s batch.

Does APX allow for payment processing in Canada?

APX does not currently allow for payment processing in Canada.

Are there APX Reports?

Our software has built in APX Reports. You should run these reports to check the status and details of your transactions. These reports cover your Operating and Trust (if applicable).

These reports include:

- Chargeback Report
- Transaction History Report – Details and Summary

What are Chargebacks?

A chargeback, also referred to as a payment dispute, occurs when a cardholder questions a transaction and asks their card-issuing bank to reverse it.

Chargebacks can be disputed for many reasons. A cardholder may have been charged by a merchant for items they never received, a merchant could have duplicated a charge by mistake, a technical issue may have caused a mistaken charge, or a cardholder’s card information may have been compromised.

When a chargeback occurs, those disputed funds will be deducted from your account and returned to the cardholder. You will be notified and provided the opportunity to provide a response back to the issuing bank/cardholder. This response could include evidence such as invoice copies, correspondence with your customer, and/or a text response for explanation. The issuing bank will then make a decision in favor of the cardholder or merchant. If the decision is in your (merchant) favor, those funds will be returned back to you. If in favor of the cardholder, the funds will stay with the cardholder.