payclick by Visa Visa Deploys Highly Secure and Reliable Payments Service on the Microsoft Platform

Visa wanted a new payments service for small online purchases. The company worked with the Microsoft Services Solutions Development Centre in Sydney to develop and deploy payclick by Visa. Using an agile development process, Visa and the SDC incorporated frequently changing requirements without delaying delivery.

Visa, a global payments technology company, offers products and services to facilitate electronic funds transfers between consumers, financial institutions, businesses, and governments. In 2006, Visa in Asia-Pacific began seeking a better way to serve the increasing number of consumers who were purchasing online content such as games, music, and movies through small transactions known in the payments-services industry as micropayments.

Among all of the moving parts in this process—regulators, partners, merchants, internal organizational challenges—the Microsoft Services SDC was our rock, sticking to the schedule and managing the process.  Greg Storey General Manager payclick by Visa

Research performed by Visa found that many consumers were concerned about the safety of supplying personal account information to multiple websites and that merchants would prefer to avoid the cost of processing, storing, and securing such data, especially for small-value transactions. To address these concerns, Visa began planning a micropayments service that would store customers’ data in one place but make it available for transactions on participating merchants’ websites. The solution needed to have an easy-to-use interface on top of a platform that offered the mission-critical reliability and security that consumers expect from the Visa brand. Because of the evolving nature of the micropayments market, Visa also wanted a flexible development partner and process.

Visa decided to work with the Microsoft Services Solutions Development Centre (SDC) in Sydney, Australia, to develop and deploy a micropayments service.

“The solution was developed using Microsoft .NET languages in Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Team Foundation Server and targets the Microsoft .NET Framework 3.5,” says David Watson, a Principal Consultant at the SDC. “It is deployed on Microsoft SQL Server 2008 data management software and the Windows Server 2008 operating system. By using Microsoft server and development technologies, our team didn’t have to solve problems related to database performance, server performance, or underlying website features. Instead, we could focus on features that would deliver business value.”

Microsoft Services SDC consultants managed the application development project and designed the architecture. Throughout the project, ongoing market research and negotiations with merchants necessitated frequent updates to the requirements. Visa and SDC team members worked closely in an agile development process that made it possible to incorporate these changes without affecting the overall delivery schedule.

In June 2010, payclick by Visa went live in the Australian market. To use the service, consumers first enroll through the payclick website and then add money to their payclick accounts from credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards, or bank accounts. With a few clicks of a mouse, payclick members can then use these stored funds to purchase digital content from any website displaying the payclick by Visa logo—without having to share personal financial information with the merchant. Participating merchants include Optus, BigPond Games, BigPond Music, FlexiSchools, Habbo, iTunes, and the charity Kids Helpline.

With Microsoft Services SDC consulting and processes, Visa was able to launch a secure, robust, and dependable payments service. The agile development process helped Visa and the SDC evolve the payclick service to meet frequently changing requirements while adhering to a strict delivery schedule.

The Microsoft platform delivered the robust security tools that the SDC needed to help it develop a solution that would store consumers’ financial information. “By using the Microsoft platform, we were able to deliver a solution that is scalable, easy to use, and fast, but which provides the level of security required by Visa,” says Watson.

Visa is pleased with the reliability of the new payclick solution. “Since payclick went live in June 2010, we’ve had no serious issues or problems,” says Storey. “The SDC provided us just what we asked for: a stable, reliable application that meets the needs of both merchants and consumers.”

As a result of the solution’s reliability, Visa doesn’t have to devote excessive resources to repairs and maintenance. “We’ve been able to focus on taking advantage of new business challenges and opportunities,” says Storey. “We’ve been able to work with consumers, merchants, and partners to develop plans for where and how we can best expand our capabilities.”

Because the micropayments market is so new, Visa needed the flexibility to change the requirements for payclick even after development had begun. “One of the advantages of the agile development process at the SDC was that we had the ability to make changes and experiment while still meeting the overall delivery goal,” says Storey. “The SDC consultants managed this process very well and kept my team intimately involved, every step of the way.”

In fact, explains Storey, the development process was the one aspect of creating payclick that didn’t cause him any anxiety. “With any complex development project, there is always a lot of nervousness and unpredictability concerning whether the project will meet requirements and be completed on time. Among all of the moving parts in this process—regulators, partners, merchants, internal organizational challenges—the Microsoft Services SDC was our rock, sticking to the schedule and managing the process to create a strong, mission-critical technology on the Microsoft platform.”