

Introducing: The OpenGateway Payment Platform.  Host your own billing engine. - brockf
http://www.electricfunction.com/2010/introducing-the-opengateway-payment-platform/
Easily manage your recurring billing with an API and control panel without putting another 3rd party middle man in your payment process.  Host your own billing engine with the OpenGateway platform.
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xal
Common mistake: just because you don't store credit cards it doesn't mean that
this changes anything about your PCI DSS requirements. As long as CCs hit your
IPs you are responsible for them. Not storing CCs simplifies certain things
but you still have to get certified.

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metachris
Excuse my ignorance, but does that mean I cannot setup this solution without
getting certified before?

Could you explain what's required for a startup to use this solution?

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xal
That's correct.

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johns
It looks cool, but can anyone explain to me what exactly is 'Open' about this?

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proee
The open is probably just a part of the branding. The platform supports
multiple payment gateways so in that regard it's an "open" gateway. You're not
tying yourself to one gateway, just an api.

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brockf
Exactly. Not tied to a payment gateway's integration code or a 3rd party
service provider like Recurly or Spreedly. No transaction fees or external
dependencies.

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johns
When it comes to marketing to software developers, I think this is a
disingenuous use of the term. It's not open source and the provider list is
controlled by you.

And how does this solve being effectively tied to a specific provider? If I
start with Authorize.net, isn't this using CIM to store all my customer
payment profiles? Can I switch at will and take all my profiles with me to
Payflow Pro?

I like the host-your-own-Spreedly idea to save on transaction fees. I think
that should be your primary selling point.

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brockf
True. It's not free and open-source. And, until Braintree's Credit Card Data
Portability movement takes a foothold, it's impossible for OpenGateway to
transfer CIM data to another payment gateway (though we'll be the first on
that train when it comes).

However, the "open" part of this solution is, to me, that:

1) You choose which gateway you want to use based on its price, service, etc.
- not because there's some free PHP class available for it or the API makes
slightly more sense than the others.

2) You can run your own billing engine and open up the API, so to speak.

3) You aren't gaining billing engine power by giving up more transaction %
fees or relying on a 3rd party service provider's closed system.

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johns
Any plans to support Braintree?

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brockf
Absolutely. Braintree, NetBilling, FirstData, PayPal Standard, and more
gateways are being added soon.

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sandGorgon
How does this compare to ActiveMerchant ?

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brockf
ActiveMerchant is a payment/shipping library for Ruby. This is more of an
independent billing engine that also gives an API for payment gateways but
also handles customer records, automatic customizable emails for billing
events (purchases, subscriptions, renewals, cancellations, etc.), handles
auto-recurring billing across all gateways, and allows you to distribute API
keys with separate API and control panel clients.

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bluebird
Looks very good! As someone already asked, is it PA-DSS certified?

