The Problem We Were Actually Solving
I have spent the last year working on a project to enable creators in Kenya and Ethiopia to receive payment for digital products. It sounds simple, but the reality is that traditional platforms like PayPal and Stripe are not available in these countries, or are severely limited. As an engineer, I had to get creative with the solutions I proposed. I quickly realized that the problem was not just about receiving payments, but also about navigating the complex web of regulations and banking systems in these countries. For example, in Kenya, the mobile money platform M-Pesa is ubiquitous, but integrating with it is not straightforward. In Ethiopia, the banking system is still largely cash-based, making it difficult to facilitate digital transactions.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
Our initial approach was to use a third-party payment gateway that claimed to support payments in Kenya and Ethiopia. We integrated their API into our system, but quickly ran into issues with high transaction failure rates and exorbitant fees. The payment gateway was also not transparent about their pricing, and we ended up losing a significant amount of money due to hidden charges. We also tried to use a popular e-wallet service, but it was not widely accepted in these countries, and the user experience was poor. After several months of trying to make these solutions work, we realized that we needed to take a different approach. We decided to build our own payment gateway, using a combination of local banks and mobile money platforms. This approach was more complex, but it gave us more control over the user experience and the fees we paid.
The Architecture Decision
We decided to use a microservices architecture to build our payment gateway. This allowed us to break down the system into smaller components, each of which could be developed and deployed independently. We used a combination of Node.js and Python to build the services, and deployed them on a cloud platform. We also used a message queue to handle the high volume of transactions, and a database to store the transaction history. One of the key decisions we made was to use a caching layer to improve performance. This allowed us to reduce the latency of our system, and improve the user experience. We also implemented a robust error handling mechanism, which allowed us to detect and respond to errors in real-time.
What The Numbers Said After
After deploying our payment gateway, we saw a significant improvement in transaction success rates. We were able to reduce the failure rate from 30% to less than 5%, and our users reported a much better experience. We also saw a reduction in fees, as we were able to negotiate better rates with the local banks and mobile money platforms. Our system was able to handle a high volume of transactions, with an average latency of less than 500ms. We also saw a significant increase in user adoption, as our system was more reliable and easier to use than the traditional platforms. We measured the success of our system using a combination of metrics, including transaction success rate, latency, and user engagement. We used tools like New Relic and Datadog to monitor our system, and identify areas for improvement.
What I Would Do Differently
If I had to do it again, I would start by building a deeper understanding of the local regulations and banking systems. I would also invest more time in testing and validating our assumptions, before building the system. We made a number of assumptions about the market, which turned out to be incorrect, and this cost us time and money. I would also prioritize the user experience more, and invest in more user research and testing. Our system was functional, but it was not as user-friendly as it could have been. I would also consider using more open-source technologies, as this would have reduced our costs and improved our agility. For example, we could have used an open-source payment gateway like OpenBanking, which would have given us more control over the system, and reduced our reliance on third-party providers. Overall, building a payment gateway for digital commerce in Africa was a complex and challenging task, but it was also a valuable learning experience.
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