The Problem We Were Actually Solving
At the time, we were working on a platform that allowed creators to sell digital goods and services. We had a successful store set up, but we were neglecting the fact that many of our creators were outside the US. We were paying US-based payment processors and relying on their infrastructure to handle international transactions. But what we didn't realize was that this setup was putting a significant tax on our creators' earnings whenever they received payments from outside their own country. In some cases, this tax was as high as 10% of their total income.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
We initially tried to work around this issue by using a third-party payment gateway that offered international support. However, we quickly encountered another problem - these payment gateways often charged high fees for cross-border transactions, and they also had strict requirements for verifying our creators' identities. This led to a lot of friction for our creators, who had to go through multiple rounds of verification just to receive their earnings.
The Architecture Decision
One day, I realized that the real bottleneck was our payment processor itself. We were relying on a legacy system that was not designed to handle international transactions efficiently. I convinced our team to switch to a new payment processor that specialized in low-fee, high-volume transactions. We also implemented a system of direct wire transfers to our creators' local bank accounts, bypassing the need for foreign exchange fees.
What The Numbers Said After
After the switch, our creators were able to receive their earnings at a much lower cost. We saw a significant reduction in our fees, which translated to more income for our creators. According to our metrics, the average transaction fee dropped by 40%, and our creators' take-home pay increased by 15%. This was a huge win for our community, and it allowed us to attract more creators from outside the US.
What I Would Do Differently
Looking back, I realize that we were trying to solve the wrong problem initially. Instead of focusing on the technical aspects of payment processing, we should have started by understanding the financial constraints of our creators. If I had to do it again, I would conduct extensive research on the payment processing landscape, talking to experts and gathering data on fees, taxes, and other costs associated with international transactions. This would have allowed us to make a more informed decision about our payment processor and ultimately save our creators more money.
The moral of the story is that, as engineers, we often focus on the technical aspects of a problem, but we neglect the business and financial implications. This can lead to suboptimal solutions that don't address the real needs of our users. By taking a more holistic approach and considering multiple perspectives, we can create systems that are not only more efficient but also more equitable and fair.
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