Summary recommendation framework (build vs buy)
Objective & constraints
- Business need: reliable card + ACH processing, reconciliation, fraud mitigation, PCI scope reduction.
- Constraints: 9‑month roadmap, 2 backend engineers, regulatory scope in US/EU, target launch M0+6.
Evaluation criteria
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Technical fit
- Build: full control over API models, custom routing, one codebase. Requires payments expertise (tokenization, settlements).
- Buy: mature SDKs, hosted tokenization, webhooks, sandbox; map vendor APIs to product flows.
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Integration complexity
- Buy: integrate SDKs, webhooks, reconciliation exports; likely 4–8 sprints of engineering work.
- Build: design PSP adapters, bank integrations, settlement pipelines, reconciliation UI; many more services.
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Security & compliance
- Buy: shifts PCI SAQ scope if vendor handles card data; vendor must show PCI DSS attestation, SOC2, GDPR DPA.
- Build: full PCI program, regular audits, security ops overhead.
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Total cost of ownership
- Buy: predictable per-transaction fees, monthly platform fees, integration & vendor management.
- Build: upfront engineering + ongoing ops, fraud team, bank connectivity, audit costs; breakeven likely 2–4 years depending on volume.
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Vendor lock-in & risk
- Assess API portability, data export, SLAs, exit terms, support tiers, multi-vendor redundancy options.
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Time-to-market
- Buy significantly faster; critical if revenue or competitive timing matters.
Recommendation
- For M0+6 launch and limited engineering capacity: buy a reputable payments provider (e.g., Stripe/Adyen/Braintree) to minimize PCI scope and accelerate time-to-market.
- Plan to build custom features later if scale/unique routing justify it; design integration with abstraction layer to allow swap.
How I'd present to stakeholders
- 1‑page executive summary (recommendation + key metrics: TTM, TCO 3yr, risk delta).
- Appendix: detailed scoring matrix, assumptions, sensitivity analysis.
- Live demo/proof-of-concept timeline and decision checkpoints at M0+3 and M0+12.
Procurement steps if buying
- Create RFP with must-have (PCI, refund windows, webhooks, reconciliation exports), nice-to-have, pricing model.
- Evaluate 3 vendors against scoring matrix (security, API ergonomics, SLAs, support, references).
- Run 4‑week technical POC for API, sandbox, chargeback handling, webhook reliability.
- Legal: negotiate DPA, SLA, termination/data export clauses, pricing floors, audit rights.
- Ops: plan monitoring, incident playbooks, runbooks, on-call handoff, and a rollback plan.
This balances product velocity, risk, and long-term flexibility.
