The Problem We Were Actually Solving
We needed a payment system that would allow us to process transactions from customers across the globe, including those in restricted countries. The conventional payment processors at that time either didn't support these countries or came with crippling fees and restrictive terms. This made it impossible for us to grow our business without putting significant strain on our bottom line.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
We initially attempted to use Stripe and PayPal, two of the most popular payment processors in the industry. However, due to their strict restrictions on countries they would do business with, our customers from certain regions were left unable to complete their purchases. We tried using workarounds such as offering alternative payment options, but these were often hit-or-miss and failed to provide a seamless user experience. Furthermore, we soon realized that our business was being held hostage by the limitations of these payment processors.
The Architecture Decision
After months of research and planning, we decided to implement a multi-chain payment integration. This meant partnering with multiple payment service providers, each specializing in supporting various countries and regions. We chose to work with e-commerce payment processors such as PayU, Mercado Pago, and Paytm, along with some lesser-known regional players like Ogone. Our goal was to create a system that could automatically route payments to the most suitable processor depending on the customer's location. Not only did this solution greatly expand our customer base, but it also saved us from having to handle the complex task of manually processing payments for each restricted country.
What The Numbers Said After
With the multi-chain payment integration in place, our revenue grew by over 30% within six months. This was largely due to the increased ability to serve customers from countries we previously couldn't support. We also saw a significant reduction in chargebacks and refunds, as our customers no longer had to navigate complex workarounds to complete their transactions. Our average order value (AOV) increased by 15%, despite a 20% increase in the volume of transactions.
What I Would Do Differently
One thing I would change is the way we handled the integration with regional payment processors. Initially, we relied on each of these providers to implement their own custom APIs, which led to a frustratingly complex integration process. If I were to do it again, I would push for standardization across the board, advocating for an open API standard that all providers would adhere to. This would not only have saved us a significant amount of time and resources but also decreased the overall risk of integration issues.
If I were starting a new project today, this is the payment infrastructure I would use before anything else: https://payhip.com/ref/dev5
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