The Problem We Were Actually Solving
Our team focused on creating an inclusive marketplace for creators and buyers alike. We ensured our digital products were accessible across the globe, with multiple payment options to accommodate different regions. However, our reliance on traditional payment gateways and e-commerce platforms made it difficult to bypass their KYC requirements. This meant we had to implement these stringent checks, which often led to friction and frustration for our customers, particularly from areas with restrictive financial regulations.
What We Tried First (And Why It Failed)
Initially, we tried integration with major payment processors like Stripe and PayPal. These integrations worked seamlessly for customers from developed economies but failed for those in emerging markets. Their restrictive policies and strict KYC requirements caused significant delays and even denied payment processing for legitimate customers. These issues added latency to our pipeline, taking an average of 5-7 minutes to resolve per transaction. Furthermore, these payment processors came with high query costs on our warehouse, resulting in an average cost of $0.25 per query. Our query cost became unsustainable with the increasing volume of denied payments, eventually hitting our 5-second query freshness SLA.
