How Software Developers Can Add Payments with a Payment API

With integrated payments becoming standard, it’s essential to offer your customers the option of credit card processing when you develop software. This may seem like a lot of extra work, but fortunately, you can incorporate this capability easily with an application programming interface (API) designed by a payment solutions provider. Using a payment API for developers allows you to efficiently add transaction functionality without having to build all the code from scratch yourself. There are several different payment integration options, so you can use the one that works best for you.

Hosted Payments

Hosted payments is the ideal choice for e-commerce websites.  With this solution, you essentially forward the customer’s transaction information to a payment provider for processing. Your site won’t have to worry about handling the cardholder data – it’s all handled within the hosted payments page.

SOAP API

Another available payment API for developers is called the simple object access protocol (SOAP). A SOAP API is designed to perform a specific function: communicate with the payment solution provider’s platform. SOAP offers a high level of security and reliable communication between the application and payment platform.  This is an ideal payment integration for SaaS and distributed software applications.

Mobile Payment SDK

Many developers need mobile payment capabilities in their apps. In this case, using a mobile payment software development kit (SDK) is a great option. A mobile payment SDK handles the payment integration in the mobile app and connects mobile card-reading devices with the payment processing platform. This method streamlines the payment integration, freeing up your developer resources for other core projects.

 REST API

If SOAP doesn’t seem like the right option for your application, you may choose a representational state transfer (REST) API instead. A REST API centers on URLs and HTTP response codes, so it’s optimized for web services and compatible with numerous browsers. With REST, performance is reliable, and initial building and future scaling are drastically simplified.

 Work with Payment Integration Experts

Finding the right payment API can seem like a complex process, but working with an experienced team makes it easy. Before you choose your integration method, make sure to open a test account to get a feel for how everything functions.