am bethel in here, a web and software developer. I am proposing to the house if actually i can get what it takes in building a web/online payment portal like eyowo.com , voguepay.com , virtualprivatenetwork.com etc.
Personaly i have actually disscussed it with my partners on carving a niche there since its still a growing trend, i have never done a work so extensive like that before neither would i go into it only by self because of the security implications like hacking etc.
My takee on this is that i would appreciate getting info from other web gurus who have actually done something on this, and would have something to offer, i dont mind outsourcing the job, if i think, thats the best alternative.
If you think its wise talking personal mail me: doggedbb@yahoo.com

Simple tips for you:

1. Avoid anything open source for your server-side. I recommend that anything that has to do with money be built from ground up. If you embrace any open source or off the shelf script as part of your solution, you are likely to inherit bugs or security loop holes that may be discovered in such script.

2. Security is everything. Its either you have in-house hackers or you outsource periodic penetration testing to competent hackers.

3. Framework. How many frameworks have you built/worked with in the past? Experience will go a long way when you have to build a framework for your payment processor.

4. Legal. The software aspect of payment processing is just one part. You must have an in-house lawyer or a retainership agreement somewhere. You can't deal with banks, merchants, buyers and card issuers without taking your legal aspect seriously.

5. Account. Get an accountant to be part of your team before software planning stage. There's more an accountant will tell you in a single meeting that will save you years of mistakes and regrets.

6. Workflow: Staff, staff, staff. You need not only to get competent staff, but also insure the staff that effects your withdrawals. GTAssure (Now Mansard) offers an insurance policy that caters for situations where certain staff with access commit fraud on merchant's money. I have forgotten what the insurance is called.

7. Office planning: Since you are going into a multi-million Naira industry, it is a good idea to pre-plan your recurrent office expenditure. See explanation below:

7a. Power: You might end up running generator 24/7. Plan alternative power source from start. We have a solar backup plan at VoguePay but it is only there as a last resort. Nepa, Generator and laptop battery may not be enough for a serious payment gateway.

7b. Gadgets: Forget using desktops at all in Nigeria. We use a mix of tablets, High end android phones and samsung solar netbooks at Afrisoft as official staff gadgets. They all can go up to 14 hours in case of any unforeseen power calamity.

7c. Internet: This is the worst part. We have 3 internet strategies and it still doesn't seem enough. 1st plan is to use a dedicated internet access in the office for everyone. 2nd is to provide personal internet access for every staff that can be used when office internet fails or when they need to work outside the office. 3rd plan is to have an unused telecom bundle subscription as a last resort in the office if the 1st 2 fail (In some cases, this has been our saving grace for customer support).


8. Funding: At least, for the first 6 months, don't plan to fund a payment gateway with the proceeds you get from it. Have a budget and make sure you have 6 months to 1 year operating cost in your bank account before you start. This will definitely be in millions but you will be glad you did. It will pay off in the long run.

9. Developers: Don't ever build a payment solution by outsourcing development. You need in-house software development team. Don't use only salaried employees. If you are not an experienced developer, get one as an executive director (Shareholder, member of board of directors and also C-Level executive). This will guarantee that the lead developer is in it for more than the money. Its his company too and he shares the Vision. Nothing is more disastrous than your lead developer quitting on you when you are in crisis.


You may not have everything at once, but trust me, it doesn't mean you cant get everything. Rome was not built in a day. In the long run, you will be glad you took the right steps than jumping in and then trying to do damage control later.

I hope these tips help. Other people may share more.
**I forgot to write advert and marketing budget.

I forgot to talk about servers and backups. Oops!

lojik: I forgot to talk about servers and backups. Oops!

I WILL BUY YOUR COMPANY VERY SOON JUST WATCH OUT

great tips

ActiveMan:
I WILL BUY YOUR COMPANY VERY SOON JUST WATCH OUT
great tips

I'm a business man and anything is possible.
I'll be waiting.

@Lojik, I really love your open-mindedness. You have given out great tips that others will not want to share, thinking they are giving their competitors an edge.

Great Job, once again.

ojochidem: @Lojik, I really love your open-mindedness. You have given out great tips that others will not want to share, thinking they are giving their competitors an edge.

Great Job, once again.

Thanks man.
I love those who dare to start something (Competitive or not). If we had more people like the poster in Nigeria, we would not have had so much unemployment.

@logic i actually like ur candid response to the the above question there, i appreciate, i have actually known more to what i actually knew about payment processor, you talked about legal matters, besides being a registered brand, are there other rregisiterations like an association thing which one must actually get into before doing business.

No. You do not need to join any association. However, being a corporate member of some associations opens you up to some information, connections and opportunities that you would not have been able to buy with money.

Hello Lojik, I posted some feature requests for Voguepay on another thread and I will like your response. Thanks. Its here: https://www.nairaland.com/1082888/suggestions-feature-requests-voguepay

nigeriantalent: Hello Lojik, I posted some feature requests for Voguepay on another thread and I will like your response. Thanks. Its here: https://www.nairaland.com/1082888/suggestions-feature-requests-voguepay

I have responded.
Thanks for the feature requests. I wonder how we overlooked some of the initially.

Logik baba! So Afrisoft got you! No wonder!!!

Was curious as to how good their products were especially as a competitor...

We haven't launched tho...


Thanks for sharing...

would like to have your email... segebee[at]gmail.com

@webguru
Healthy competition is great and it is welcome.
What's the fun in business if there's no competition?

logik baba, my silence over the years doesnt mean that i ran away but i took time off to finish my final year palava, am free to an extent now.

there were other points, you mentioned like marketing, servers, backups, etc

Please i would like getting info about integration, making it possible for clients to pay with their credit cards.. Etc
other useful info is appreciated, thanks

Integration is at the lowest level of payment processing (I mean really basic level). You should be able to handle this before thinking of a payment processor at all.

As for servers and backup, i'll let other developers contribute here.

Marketing? Na wa for you. Na me go teach marketing? There's so many stuff on the web about marketing. Use google. You'll be surprised at how much info you'll get for free.

@Lojik,

Is there any way I can delete the transaction history. We are tired of seeing red "Failed Payment" each time we login into our voguepay account. I think it would be nice if there is a way to delete them. That is delete the unwanted transaction history and keep the ones you need.

Chrisvicmall: @Lojik,

Is there any way I can delete the transaction history. We are tired of seeing red "Failed Payment" each time we login into our voguepay account. I think it would be nice if there is a way to delete them. That is delete the unwanted transaction history and keep the ones you need.

Some card issuers require us to keep every transaction record for a minimum of 13 months.