⚡The Payment Provider That's Saving HighLevel Agencies 70-90% on Processing Fees
How one marketer stumbled into the payments industry and built a solution that turns client transactions into recurring agency revenue
💡 The Problem Every Agency Ignores Until It's Too Late
You've finally landed that dream client. They're doing $20,000 a month in sales through their HighLevel funnels. Everything's running smoothly.
Then one morning, they wake up to an email: "Your Stripe account has been frozen. Funds are on hold for 90 days."
Or worse—they're quietly getting crushed by processing fees, watching 3-4% of every transaction disappear, and they don't even realize there's a better way.
Josh, the founder of Noomerik (formerly Numeric), has seen this story play out hundreds of times. And he's built a solution that not only solves the Stripe problem but creates an entirely new revenue stream for agencies.
"There's no other embedded payment solution that will let you build a portfolio of recurring revenue based on your clients' transactions," Josh explains. "Every time your client makes a sale, you make money."
🎯 How a Marketing Guy Fell Into Payments
Josh didn't set out to revolutionize payment processing. He stumbled into it.
"I've had my own businesses for a lot of years. Again, mostly sales and marketing. But this time around, I paid attention—paid attention to pain points. What people were frustrated with."
In 2019, Josh was working as a contractor for a wholesale ISO (Independent Sales Organization) in the payments industry. His job? Help them transition from traditional brick-and-mortar merchant services to digital marketing.
"Most of their clientele, if not all of them, were boots on the ground—restaurants, retail places where there's a physical device to take payment," Josh recalls. "They had marketing assets literally everywhere: Squarespace, Wix, WordPress, ClickFunnels."
🔍 The Discovery That Changed Everything
While consolidating their marketing into HighLevel, Josh started noticing a pattern in the HighLevel Facebook group.
"I just started seeing people complain about payments—mostly about Stripe because that was the only integration at the time."
The complaints were consistent:
Frozen accounts with no warning
Funds held for 30-90 days
Accounts shut down at 1% chargeback ratio
No real support when issues arose
Restrictive terms of service
Josh saw an opportunity: "I said to the guy that was running the business, 'We should probably try and build something.' And he was okay with it and then not okay with it and then okay with it. And eventually he didn't want to do it and I said, 'Well, I'm going to do it. I got my own money.'"
That decision to go all-in led to the creation of Noomerik.
📊 Understanding the Payments Pyramid
Before we dive into how Noomerik works, Josh offers a crash course in how the payment processing industry actually operates.
The Hierarchy:
🏔️ Level 1: Processors
Only 6-10 in the entire US
Process trillions per year
Example: Josh's main processor did $2.3 trillion in 2023
🏦 Level 2: Banks
Sponsor banks, acquiring banks, issuing banks
Requires millions in capital
🏢 Level 3: Wholesale ISOs
Minimum $50-60k annually just in card brand fees
Work directly with banks
🛒 Level 4: Retail ISOs ← This is where Noomerik operates
Where most payment providers exist
Direct relationship with merchants
Can offer more flexible terms
💳 Payment Facilitators ← This is where Stripe/PayPal/Square operate
Simplified onboarding
Share one master merchant account subdivided among users
Take on all the risk (which is why they're so restrictive)
"Think of how HighLevel gives you an agency account and then you can have an infinite number of sub-accounts," Josh explains. "Stripe's done that with payments, but the problem is the risk involved."
🚨 Why Stripe Works... Until It Doesn't
Josh is surprisingly fair when discussing Stripe, PayPal, and Square.
"Stripe, PayPal, Square—they're pretty good up until about $10,000 monthly," he admits.
The Payment Facilitator Model:
✅ The Pros:
Quick setup with minimal information
Start taking payments immediately
Great for micro-merchants and startups
Flat rate pricing (2.9% for Stripe)
❌ The Cons:
Terms of service heavily favor the platform
They take on all your risk (and protect themselves accordingly)
Will kick you at 1% chargeback ratio
No negotiation on rates as you scale
Frozen accounts with little recourse
"I often refer to them as the American Idol of payments," Josh quips. "Everybody can audition. We'll let you all sing a song, but who's really getting to the end?"
The Real Problem:
"Stripe will kick you off at 1% chargeback ratio. The banks that I work with understand that's part of the game. I've lost one client to the bank canceling them, and it's because they got to over 30% chargebacks."
That's a massive difference: 1% vs. 30%.
💰 The Dual Pricing Revolution
This is where Noomerik fundamentally differs from traditional payment processors.
Instead of you (the business owner) eating the processing fees, Noomerik uses what's called dual pricing to shift costs to consumers who choose to pay with credit cards.
How It Works:
When a customer goes to check out, they see two pricing options:
💳 Pay with Credit/Debit Card: $100.00
🏦 Pay with ACH (Bank Account): $97.00
The customer chooses. If they pick the card, they pay the processing fee. If they pick ACH, you pay a much smaller fee (1% + 30 cents).
"When you do that, you've shifted the cost from you, the business owner, to the consumer if they choose a card," Josh explains.
But Don't People Choose ACH to Save Money?
Here's the fascinating behavioral economics part:
"Despite me giving a discount for you paying with your bank account, I know by virtue of all the data that I have that 98% of the time you're still going to pay me with a credit card even though the price is a little bit higher."
Why?
✅ Everyone has their cards already saved
✅ Credit card rewards and points
✅ Consumer protection with chargebacks
✅ It's just easier
"I got stacks of credit card offers on my desk because everybody's trying to offer me cash back, rewards, points, miles. We're all conditioned as consumers to go, 'I'll just put it on the card.'"
The result? You offer the choice, feel good about giving a discount option, and 98% still pay with cards—but now they're covering the processing fee, not you.
🧮 The Numbers That Change Everything
Let's talk real numbers, because this is where Noomerik becomes impossible to ignore.
Noomerik's Pricing:
Monthly minimum: $99
Includes all support
Bank relationship management
Chargeback dispute guidance
Access to all features
Per transaction:
Credit cards: 15 cents per transaction
ACH: 1% + 30 cents
The Calculator Comparison:
Josh built a calculator showing a 90/10 blend (90% card payments, 10% ACH):
At $10,000/month with $2,997 average sale:
Stripe/PayPal: $306 in fees
Noomerik: $108 total (including the $99 monthly)
Savings: $198/month
At $20,000/month:
Stripe/PayPal: $612 in fees
Noomerik: $117 total
Savings: $495/month
"Watch what happens in the red versus what happens in the blue. The red being Stripe/PayPal/Square—they doubled. I went up $9."
At $50,000/month:
Stripe/PayPal: $1,530 in fees
Noomerik: Still around $135-150
Savings: $1,380/month
"It gets exponentially better for you. It's the inverse of what you're used to."
🎯 The Onboarding Reality Check
Josh gets on his "hobby horse" about onboarding because this is where people often get frustrated.
What You'll Need to Provide:
📄 Business information
👤 Personal identification (driver's license)
🏦 Bank statements
📊 Business documentation
💼 Processing history (if applicable)
"Anyone that's letting you take payments, anyone including Stripe at some point, is asking you for the same information that I ask you for."
Why the Scrutiny?
"Believe it or not, people steal identity, which means they can steal merchant accounts and launder money."
Josh's frustration is palpable when people push back:
"If you fight me on it and want to know why I asked for the information I asked for, then it just takes longer. I tend to liken it to somebody who's building out a sub-account as an agency owner. You need their logo, email address—there's all this stuff you need to help the business owner run that sub account effectively. You're not asking for it just to collect it. You need it."
The Timeline:
If you provide everything upfront: Same day or next day approval
If you hem and haw: Days to weeks
🔌 HighLevel Integration: Seamless by Design
One of Noomerik's biggest advantages is that it's built specifically for HighLevel.
Installation Process:
Install the Noomerik app from HighLevel marketplace
Complete onboarding inside the app (still within HighLevel)
Get approved (same day if you have all documents)
Start processing payments
What Works in HighLevel:
✅ Payment forms
✅ Payment links
✅ Invoices
✅ Text to pay
✅ Documents and contracts
✅ Form builder with payments
✅ Donations
✅ Saved payment methods
✅ Import from Stripe
What's Coming:
🔜 Full subscription creation (currently in development)
🔜 Additional features requested by the community
"Everything that you see in the HighLevel payments section is usable," Josh confirms.
💸 The Revenue Stream Nobody Talks About
This is where Noomerik becomes a game-changer for agencies.
Traditional agency revenue model:
You charge a monthly retainer
You charge for services
Maybe you have some SaaS fees
That's it.
The Noomerik Agency Model:
When you add Noomerik as an embedded payment provider, you earn a residual on every transaction your clients process.
"As an agency, you make money when you make sales to new clients. Your clients whose businesses you're helping to grow have to take payments. They're making sales. When you add Noomerik as an embedded payment provider inside of your SaaS product and now your clients are taking payments through Noomerik, you're making revenue every time your client makes a sale."
The Portfolio Effect:
Let's say you have 25 clients, each doing $10,000/month:
Portfolio volume: $250,000/month
You're earning residuals on all of it
Now your job as an agency is to help them grow from $10k to $20k to $30k:
You're making more on your services
AND you're making more on their increased payment volume
"You're building a portfolio, and the more volume that you get, the better off that you generate revenue. Your whole job as an agency is to make them more profitable, bring them more leads, close more sales. So they go from 10 to 20 to 30 to 40. Now you're making additional revenue on every new dollar that comes through every month."
Real Agency Example:
"It really should be sold like they're selling AI," Josh argues. "AI, as cool as it is, you're only selling that for a certain dollar amount every month. Same with your SaaS or agency services. But payments can just keep growing infinitely as long as that client keeps growing. That money keeps coming through every time they make a sale—not you making a sale, when they make the sale."
📈 Case Studies: The Proof Is in the Processing
While the interview focused more on mechanics than specific case studies, Josh dropped some impressive numbers:
Client doing $50,000/month:
Previous fees: ~$1,530/month
Noomerik fees: ~$135-150/month
Monthly savings: $1,380
Client onboarding at $2.7 million/month:
Expected savings: $70-80,000/month
"The savings is going to be staggering"
"I have clients doing 50, 100k a month. We're getting ready to bring on a client that's doing 2.7 million a month."
🎓 Why Sean Vinyard Pushed for This
Josh's relationship with HighLevel CEO Sean Vinyard goes back to 2019.
"In 2019 when I first started getting into the HighLevel group, I got into—you know how Sean is—he'll respond to anybody and he still does. I just made a comment about somebody who was dealing with payment trouble with Stripe and I said, 'This is how much they could save.' And he immediately reached out to me: 'I'd like to understand this.'"
Sean's Vision:
"He's like, 'That's great and it will work, but I need it to work for every one of my agencies.'"
That direction shaped everything Noomerik became:
"From 2019 until now, that's how I've thought about payments—not just solving the Stripe problem. That's important both from a cost standpoint and a stability standpoint. We don't freeze funds and we don't kick people out. But from an agency standpoint, how do we put tools in the hands of agencies from a payment perspective that enriches them and adds tremendous value to their clients?"
🏥 The Embedded Payments Lesson
Josh offers a powerful analogy about why embedded payments matter:
"If you ran a medical practice, you're using an EHR or an EMR—electronic health record, electronic medical record. Every one of those has payments built in for a very specific reason: because the people that built the software that is selling it to the medical practice knew that was a revenue stream when they sold that software to that practice."
The insurance comparison:
"They've made it so embedded, sort of like insurance does—bundle your home and auto. Embedded payments for SaaS is a trillion-dollar business. You just got to get it on the right ship."
Why Stripe Won't Work for This:
"Stripe's never going to pay anybody. They just won't. The average SaaS person in HighLevel—the last time I heard the numbers—they were doing 13 to 15K a month. Good. People can live on that and have a nice life. But Stripe will never pay out on that. There's nothing in it. There's just not enough margin."
"But the way we built what we built, there's margin in all of it for everyone."
💪 Final Advice for Agencies
Josh's closing thoughts focused on diversification and revenue streams:
Multiple Revenue Streams Are Critical:
"Having different revenue streams I think is so key. You never know what's going to happen. And so having multiple revenue streams at different places is critical."
Don't Overthink Payments:
"Payments are both complicated and not complicated. The whole ecosystem, you don't need to know it as an agency owner, as a user. You don't need to know it. We handle all that for you."
Give Your Clients Options:
"All you're doing is just giving the end customer an option. Here's your option. Choose—pay me this way or pay me this way. They were already going to buy it."
🎯 The Bottom Line
Noomerik solves three critical problems for agencies:
1. Client Stability
No more frozen Stripe accounts killing your client relationships. Banks understand business and work with you through challenges.
2. Massive Savings
70-90% reduction in processing fees for clients doing over $10k/month. The bigger they grow, the more they save.
3. Recurring Agency Revenue
Turn your clients' transactions into a portfolio of recurring income. Every sale they make puts money in your pocket.
As Josh puts it: "From an agency standpoint, how do we put tools in the hands of agencies from a payment perspective that enriches them and adds tremendous value to their clients? That's what's driven us from day one."
🔗 Get Started Today
Get started with Noomerik: https://noomerik.com/installation?am_id=jenna3479
30-day extended trial of HighLevel: gohighlevel.com/jenna-leadingham
Upgrade to SaaS Pro: leadjennautomations.com/upgrade
