The Problem We Were Actually Solving
At first glance, it seemed simple: we wanted to add PayPal as a payment option to our e-commerce platform. Our users loved it, and we thought it was a no-brainer. But as we dug deeper, we realized that PayPal's global availability was a major issue. In some countries, they simply didn't have a presence, while in others, they were blocked by local regulations. Meanwhile, Stripe and other popular payment gateways couldn't be enabled due to restrictions on debit/credit card processing.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
The first solution we employed was to use a third-party payment processor like Gumroad or Payhip. We thought it would be a quick fix to bypass the PayPal issue, but it turned out to be a slippery slope. These services were great for small transactions, but as our user base grew, so did the fees - and the complexity of our payment system. We soon found ourselves juggling multiple payment processors, each with their own security and compliance challenges.
The Architecture Decision
