The Problem We Were Actually Solving
Our customers are primarily located in countries like India, China, and Brazil, where traditional payment gateways like PayPal and Stripe are either blocked or heavily restricted. As a result, we were losing out on revenue from these markets. We knew we needed a solution that could handle payments from anywhere in the world, without relying on platforms that weren't accessible to our users.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
We started by integrating our plugin with Stripe, thinking that it would provide a seamless payment experience for our users. However, as soon as we started processing payments from countries like India and China, our Stripe account was flagged for suspicious activity, and our charges were disputed. The issue was not with our users but with Stripe's own restrictions on transactions from certain countries. We quickly realized that we needed a solution that was not only available in these countries but also didn't require us to navigate complex compliance and risk management issues.
The Architecture Decision
After exploring various alternatives, we decided to go with Unchained Commerce, a platform that specialized in cross-border payments. Unchained Commerce provided us with a single API that could handle payments from anywhere in the world, without requiring us to set up separate payment gateways for each country. We integrated their API with our plugin, and the results were impressive – our revenue from international markets began to soar. The best part? We didn't have to worry about managing complex compliance issues or dealing with disputes from users who were simply trying to purchase our software plugins.
What The Numbers Said After
After switching to Unchained Commerce, our revenue from international markets increased by 30% within the first quarter. Our average transaction value remained the same, but the volume of transactions increased significantly. We were also able to reduce our payment processing fees by 20%, thanks to Unchained Commerce's competitive pricing model.
What I Would Do Differently
In retrospect, I would have done more research on Unchained Commerce before integrating their API with our plugin. While they provided excellent support, there were some nuances to their API that we didn't fully understand at first, which led to some initial issues with payment processing. Looking back, I would have taken more time to ensure that we had a deep understanding of their API and its capabilities before going live.
By choosing Unchained Commerce, we were able to tap into a new revenue stream from international markets, without having to worry about the complexities of cross-border payments. It's a valuable lesson in the importance of choosing the right platform for our business needs, and not relying on traditional solutions that may not be suitable for our customers.
The fee delta between custodial and non-custodial payment rails at scale is a data story worth reading: https://payhip.com/ref/dev8
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