Developing an online payment system

Project overview

This project was a joint venture between LukyLab and BSC Praha (now Finshape). The development of the PayMyway actually gave impetus to establish my company LukyLab and was the first project I delivered as LukyLab.

Project duration

January 2010 — March 2011

The product

A secure system called PayMyway for online payments connecting eshops with banks in the Czech Republic.

The problem and the opportunity

Online shopping in the Czech Republic was booming, but the payment options were limited with the most popular payment method as cash-on-delivery, bringing additional cost, inconvenience, and risks. At the same time, banks were offering "internet banking" – enabling clients to access their bank accounts and make payments online.

The goal

Introduce an alternative to online card payment and cash on delivery payment methods. Develop a new system for secure and fast online payments, and make it a standard for payments using internet banking.

My role

I led the project from its inception and served as a project manager, product designer, salesman, tester, and support specialist. We were a very small team with limited resources, and I did everything except writing the code to deliver the product and make it a success. The most critical was to get banks and online merchants on board. Therefore, my main focus was to establish relationships with banks and eshops.

Responsibilities

  1. Develop a strategy, budget, plan, and pricing.
  2. Establish relationships with banks and online merchants.
  3. Research and develop a specification for the payment gateway.
  4. Provide testing, and support to all involved parties.
  5. Support integration with banks and eshops.
  6. Create all supporting materials.

My approach

  • Made it "super" easy and convenient for banks and merchants to integrate with PayMyway – have code samples, documentation, security reviews, etc. available from the start.
  • Created a business case for banks and online merchants demonstrating the cost and benefits of PayMyway.
  • Developed and made all materials including terms & conditions, marketing materials, etc. available to banks and merchants to help us market PayMyway.

The result

The new payment gateway named PayMyway was successfully launched in cooperation with 4 banks and several e-commerce retailers. PayU subsequently purchased PayMyway and incorporated it into its online payments solution.