Multi-Currency Payment Platform
@ Sutraq — JavaScript Developer
Building a secure, compliant payment infrastructure for cross-border commerce in the Middle East
$ cat PROBLEM.md
Monolith Couldn't Scale for Multi-Currency Operations
Sutraq's original payment platform was a monolithic Node.js application that struggled with the complexity of multi-currency transactions, real-time exchange rates, and varying regulatory requirements across Middle Eastern and European markets. Deployment fear, compliance audits, and performance bottlenecks were blocking growth.
Key Challenges:
- Single database becoming a bottleneck for transaction throughput
- Currency conversion logic scattered across codebase with inconsistencies
- Every deployment risked the entire payment flow
- PCI-DSS audit found issues with shared infrastructure components
$ cat SOLUTION.md
Domain-Driven Microservices with PCI-Compliant Architecture
We decomposed the monolith into domain-focused microservices with clear boundaries, implementing a PCI-compliant architecture that isolated sensitive payment data.
Technical Approach:
Domain-Driven Decomposition
Split into bounded contexts: Payments, Currencies, Users, Compliance, and Reporting. Each service owns its data and business logic.
PCI-Compliant Card Data Vault
Isolated card handling into a separate, hardened service with its own infrastructure. Main services never touch raw card numbers.
Real-Time Currency Engine
Dedicated service managing exchange rates from multiple providers, handling rate locking, and calculating conversion with transparent fees.
Event Sourcing for Audit Trail
All financial transactions stored as immutable events, providing complete audit trail for regulators and dispute resolution.
$ cat tech-stack.json
🚀 Core Technologies
Node.js / Express
Microservices runtime
Why: High I/O throughput for payment processing, large ecosystem for financial integrations
PostgreSQL
Transactional data with ACID guarantees
Why: Battle-tested for financial applications, excellent consistency model
RabbitMQ
Inter-service messaging
Why: Reliable message delivery critical for payment workflows
🔧 Supporting Technologies
☁️ Infrastructure
$ cat ARCHITECTURE.md
The platform uses domain-driven microservices with clear boundaries:
| |
System Components:
API Gateway
Authentication, rate limiting, and request routing
Payment Service
Orchestrates payment workflows without touching card data
Card Vault Service
PCI-compliant isolated service for card tokenization
Currency Service
Real-time rates, conversion, and fee calculation
$ man implementation-details
Designing the Card Vault
PCI-DSS compliance required isolating all cardholder data:
Architectural Decisions:
- Separate VPC with no internet access
- Dedicated RDS instance with encryption at rest
- All access through private API with mTLS
- No logs containing card numbers
Tokenization Flow:
- Client submits card to Card Vault directly (bypassing main services)
- Card Vault validates, encrypts, and returns token
- Main services only ever see tokens
- Payment execution sends token to Card Vault, which calls gateway
| |
Real-Time Currency Engine
Multi-currency support required a sophisticated rate management system:
Rate Aggregation:
- Multiple rate providers (XE, Fixer.io, bank feeds)
- Weighted average with outlier detection
- Failover when primary provider is down
Rate Locking:
- Rates locked at transaction initiation
- 15-minute lock window for checkout completion
- Margin calculation with transparent display
| |
$ echo $RESULTS
PCI-DSS Compliant Platform Processing $10M+ Monthly
Additional Outcomes:
- Passed PCI-DSS Level 1 audit with minimal findings
- Deployment frequency increased from monthly to daily
- Currency conversion disputes reduced by 90% with transparent fee display
$ cat LESSONS_LEARNED.md
PCI Compliance Drives Good Architecture
The requirement to isolate card data forced us to create cleaner service boundaries. What seemed like a constraint became a design improvement.
Currency is Harder Than It Looks
Rate volatility, provider failover, and fee transparency created more complexity than the actual payment flow. We should have started with the Currency Service.
Event Sourcing is Worth the Investment for Finance
The ability to replay and audit every transaction proved invaluable for compliance and dispute resolution. The upfront complexity paid off.
$ cat README.md
Related
Experience: JavaScript Developer at Sutraq
Technologies: Node.js, TypeScript, Microservices, PostgreSQL, Redis
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