BNPL has revolutionized the way eCommerce payments work in the current market scenario. Virtina recently accepted a BNPL-based project for a renowned interest-free product company based in Australia and New Zealand. Virtina was ecstatic to obtain the project, especially considering the challenges involved in developing a customized payment integration plugin for the BigCommerce platform. The task became all the more tedious owing to the stringent guidelines put forth by the BigCommerce platform.
The client had several listed platforms they worked on, with payment gateways already integrated. But they lacked a payment plugin for WooCommerce - the principal reason being the hurdles involved. Virtina was glad to take up the dare and got right down to addressing it.
We had in-depth discussions with the client team to understand their requirements, identify the pain points, and devise a detailed plan. The task required a team of seasoned developers dedicated to the project, and we provided just that. eCommerce platforms are extra cautious in approving plugins related to payment gateways owing to the security risks involved, WooCommerce more so. Virtina needed to tick every point on the WooCommerce checklist for approving third-party plugin development.
The plugin needed to integrate smoothly with the BigCommerce platform. Unfortunately, unlike other big SaaS platforms, BigCommerce does not allow access to core files for us to integrate with custom payment gateways. The only option was to create a Middleware that works as a mediator between the payment gateway and the BigCommerce platform. Thus, the Middleware became an unlisted Custom App for the client.
The app had to fetch order information from BigCommerce and furnish it to the payment gateway service provider. It then has to demonstrate a response from the payment gateway service provider about the payment status. The app also needed to retain primary client and purchase information - transaction and order IDs, customer name and email IDs, order date, payment status, and the like. The app had to capture payments, checkouts, and refunds without any possibility of errors.
BigCommerce requires that GDPR is open to the general public. They also demand PCI compliance certification for third-party service providers from an external Qualified Security Assessor (QSA). Each billing app that uses the BigCommerce Payments API and collects merchants or shoppers' personally identifiable information (PII) must have its Privacy Policy sufficient to the European Union General Data Protection Requirements (GDPR) requirements.
After much deliberation, we created a custom Middleware that translated well into the customer's BigCommerce requisites. The app performs without bugs or hitches and makes the BPNL payment checkout workflow swift and simplistic. The app was tested for security and performance and passed with flying colors.
We have thus successfully developed the Middleware and submitted it to the Playstore. The app is currently awaiting approval from the BigCommerce team. Once we get through, the app will go live in the marketplace, to be made available globally to all our client's customers opting for the BNPL payment plan. This project has been a significant win for Virtina.
