Semi-OT: Payment Integration

[Fairlight]

Well, I've just completed my first Authorize.net integration with a filePro
web-based solution.  I have to say, I'm pleased with Authorize.net.

I've used PayPal for years.  PayPal is...well...people knock the living
hell out of them for many reasons, many of them invalid.  The ones that
I -do- consider valid are horrible documentation, missing or often-moved
documentation, a product-line they can't seem to leave alone for more than
six months at a time, and an increasing case of greed in terms of fees for
services.  PayPal also has horrendous customer service and no realtime
developer support.

By contrast, Authorize.net had well-established, clean, SHORT docs.
Everything I needed was -thoroughly- (yet briefly) covered, and I only
found one real glaring contradiction that was easily remedied once I
looked up the error number I was getting.  The docs have been in the same
place for ages (I've just never actually -done- the integration to them
before--I've researched it plenty).  The integration methods seem to be
pretty stable.  They had decent customer service, as well, and I didn't
even need the developer support because the docs were quite sufficient.
The test site they have is a JOY to work with, compared to PayPal's
Sandbox.

I did only the SIM method, not AIM.  I could do both, I'm more than
confident.  The preference these days, however, especially among fP
houses, but also in general, is -against- collecting card information
in-house.  The PCI compliance nightmares and expense are something that
most places that have even been doing online payments for years are trying
to get -away- from, not move towards.  In that vein, the simpler, hosted
integration methods like SIM are really the way to go to keep overhead down
and give a shot in the arm to simplicity.

I looked at...I think it was SkipJack.  The docs were over 460 pages...it
was absurd.  A sift through them showed them to be overly complex for most
uses.

I've actually worked with YourPay.  Their stock perl code is -crap-, and
relies on curl, which can't even do the amount of fault detection that you
really need.  They bounce/fail transactions without any reason, and their
architecture doesn't lend itself to much better than the lousy sample code
they provide.  Can't speak for the other languages you can use, but if they
put 200% of the love and care into other languages as they did perl, they
probably -still- majorly suck.

So far, I really like Authorize.net.  I'd actually go with them myself and
toss PayPal, if my bank had a bloody clue what they were doing.  They have
their own online platform, and they only seem to be able to use that--and
only one person across every branch in the city seems to know a thing about
it, no less.  So I just do PayPal and ACH-withdraw my funds as required.
But for a direct feed into a merchant account...I'd definitely say
Authorize.net is the better way to go.  The monthly fees are about the
same, but the setup fees are a lot less than with PayPal as well.

Anyway...in case anyone's looking at needing to do integration work in the
near future, that's my $0.02 worth on several gateways.

mark->
-- 
Audio panton, cogito singularis.