Seamless integrations - Lessons learnt from our technology development expert By Greg Madytinos

At Paymentology I am responsible for:

• Leading the software development process, ensuring that it is done to the highest standards of quality and security
• Guiding the technical packaging of the product for release to the client environments
• Ensuring that we are delivering maximum value to our clients from their chosen platform

My top 5 tips for any technology team building or consuming an API:

1. Understand your knowledge management

   Whether you are sharing information with clients about how to consume your API, tracking known issues, or sharing information between team members, laying the foundation of a good knowledge management policy and accompanying practices is critical to a well-oiled technology team. Do not go overboard. Keep it light but effective. Lowering the friction of these activities will increase the chance of adoption. At Paymentology, we make use of well-understood industry documentation standards like those defined in the OpenAPI Specification project (Swagger).

2. Choose technologies that are fit-for-purpose

   Decide on your business drivers for needing a technology solution. Understanding the drivers will lead to better decisions around the solutions that can fulfil those needs. The FAST technology that Paymentology has built moves the dial forward for the payments industry. It is lightweight yet makes no compromises on value. This key attribute promotes clarity and speed. Not only speed of processing but speed in terms of time to integrate with Paymentology.

3. Work with top talent

   Long-term projects can be hindered if you are working with teams that lack the necessary experience to deal with the challenges that inevitably arise. Many short-term projects only show their flaws in the long term. To overcome that, it is important to have well-defined roles and responsibilities and hire talent with the right skills and experience to fulfil those roles. While the technology at Paymentology is impressive and has the potential to disrupt, the real differentiator is the people. There is so much combined FinTech knowledge accumulated from companies across the spectrum, including the card schemes. This is what makes the solution strong. It is grounded in the lessons learnt from years of payment industry expertise.

4. Data-driven decision-making

   Operational metrics are key in knowing how your API integrations are performing in the real world. Ensure that you design with these metrics in mind, from the ground up. This ensures that critical dashboards and reports can be generated to create necessary visibility for stakeholders. Armed with this knowledge, timeous scaling of processing environments and real-time tracking of issues can be performed.

5. Protect your customer

   Protecting your customers’ data is complex and multi-faceted. Choose a vendor with the accreditation and certification necessary to apply best security practice and governance to your API integration.

About the author

Greg Madytinos, Head of Development at Paymentology, has over 23 years’ experience in the design and build of technology solutions.