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Banks are still the gatekeepers of this network. Unless you've negotiated deals with VISA partner banks, these APIs are pretty much useless. Companies like Mar

Banks are still the gatekeepers of this network. Unless you've negotiated deals with VISA partner banks, these APIs are pretty much useless. Companies like Marqueta on the issuer side and Stripe on the acquirer side have relationships with banks that let them move money from your VISA cards. (And even in ACH land, which is lightyears behind the card companies, SynapsePay for example has a bank partner who provides a license for their charter). Don't think you're gonna be able to write a script to move money from your credit card to your friend. This is still a tightly controlled network of banks. If you're looking to innovate in the payments space, take a look at Bitcoin and other digital currencies.

cissou 11y ago
well I could definitely create a developer account and get an API key, so it looks like it's a very public API.
- notliketherest 11y ago
  A sandbox != the real world.
  - cissou 11y ago
    > Your Account " xxxxxx " has been setup and is currently in TEST status. It must "Go Live" before you can process real credit card payments and receive funds. To complete your registration, please create the following two accounts within 24 hours of receipt of this email, before the links expire. Still going well. I really think they want it to be as open as possible.
    - sillysaurus3 11y ago
      Please post the final results for us. This is very interesting. Thanks!
      - cissou 11y ago
        I think this is still not a one-stop shop for all their APIs. I had to create a "normal" CyberSource account, and if I want to use Visa Checkout I have to become an accepted Visa Merchant (not sure what the process is — not sure I want to know). And I don't think I can even usa Visa Direct (they recommend to send an email at contact@ to go live, but I don't have an app to distribute yet, so I can't tell you right now).
        bryanthompson 11y ago
        Did you get any decent action out of the API? I spent 2 hours tonight poking at it... Pretty certain I'm doing everything correctly, but I'm getting 403's and no usable errors.
        cissou 11y ago
        Nah I spent all my effort trying to see how long it'd take to production vs. Stripe. My conclusion is that Stripe will be just fine for now...
SwellJoe 11y ago
I don't think I understand. Why would they go to the trouble to launch this API, make claims of being able to process payments, etc. if it is "useless"?
- deleted 11y ago
  [deleted]
- spydum 11y ago
  You have no idea of the plethora of CIO/CTO digital transformation initiatives being kicked off at fortune 100s.. Everybody needs an API, even if they serve no purpose. Oh yes, and agile too.
- us0r 11y ago
  I don't think they launched anything. I think its just shiny new pages. CyberSource has been around since 1994. It's not useless if you have a merchant account.
- rezrovs 11y ago
  There are two classes of payments - consumer and business. This API is designed for business payments. Companies that process tens, if not hundreds of thousands of payments on a monthly basis. Think about the companies that sit behind businesses like Etsy or Uber - they need to take a lot of payments from customers and pay the supplier. Many of those payment companies are financial institutions themselves who probably already have some kind of connection to programs like Visa.
Everhusk 11y ago
Bitcoin has major scaling problems and is very likely going to fail to deliver on your last sentence. As much as I don't want it to be true, it's more likely that banks will control the blockchain with something like R3.
- bduerst 11y ago
  Or how something deflationary that can't handle refunds is supposed to innovate payments.
  - belovedeagle 11y ago
    > that can't handle refunds Please stop spreading this idiotic nonsense. Bitcoin, for all its faults, can handle refunds just fine. It just requires a different model than CCs do. You might as well say "cash can't handle refunds"...
    - bduerst 11y ago
      You're right, it requires a multisig escrow scheme which isn't new, unique to Bitcoin, and not innovative to payments, which is the context of this discussion.
    - abalone 11y ago
      They mean Bitcoin can't guarantee refunds if you are ripped off by the seller. Which, of course, neither can cash. Which is why Visa's generally a better way to pay when you don't completely trust the seller (or even when you do).
      - WatchDog 11y ago
        You can utilize bitcoin escrow services. Taking a look at the first service I found [1], the fees, the friction and the short period you can claim a refund within, make it seem like quite an inferior experience to using a credit card. [1] http://safepaybtc.com/ http://safepaybtc.com/

cissou 11y ago

well I could definitely create a developer account and get an API key, so it looks like it's a very public API.

notliketherest 11y ago
A sandbox != the real world.
- cissou 11y ago
  > Your Account " xxxxxx " has been setup and is currently in TEST status. It must "Go Live" before you can process real credit card payments and receive funds. To complete your registration, please create the following two accounts within 24 hours of receipt of this email, before the links expire. Still going well. I really think they want it to be as open as possible.
  - sillysaurus3 11y ago
    Please post the final results for us. This is very interesting. Thanks!
    - cissou 11y ago
      I think this is still not a one-stop shop for all their APIs. I had to create a "normal" CyberSource account, and if I want to use Visa Checkout I have to become an accepted Visa Merchant (not sure what the process is — not sure I want to know). And I don't think I can even usa Visa Direct (they recommend to send an email at contact@ to go live, but I don't have an app to distribute yet, so I can't tell you right now).
      - bryanthompson 11y ago
        Did you get any decent action out of the API? I spent 2 hours tonight poking at it... Pretty certain I'm doing everything correctly, but I'm getting 403's and no usable errors.
        cissou 11y ago
        Nah I spent all my effort trying to see how long it'd take to production vs. Stripe. My conclusion is that Stripe will be just fine for now...

SwellJoe 11y ago

I don't think I understand. Why would they go to the trouble to launch this API, make claims of being able to process payments, etc. if it is "useless"?

deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
spydum 11y ago
You have no idea of the plethora of CIO/CTO digital transformation initiatives being kicked off at fortune 100s.. Everybody needs an API, even if they serve no purpose. Oh yes, and agile too.
us0r 11y ago
I don't think they launched anything. I think its just shiny new pages. CyberSource has been around since 1994. It's not useless if you have a merchant account.
rezrovs 11y ago
There are two classes of payments - consumer and business. This API is designed for business payments. Companies that process tens, if not hundreds of thousands of payments on a monthly basis. Think about the companies that sit behind businesses like Etsy or Uber - they need to take a lot of payments from customers and pay the supplier. Many of those payment companies are financial institutions themselves who probably already have some kind of connection to programs like Visa.

Everhusk 11y ago

Bitcoin has major scaling problems and is very likely going to fail to deliver on your last sentence. As much as I don't want it to be true, it's more likely that banks will control the blockchain with something like R3.

bduerst 11y ago
Or how something deflationary that can't handle refunds is supposed to innovate payments.
- belovedeagle 11y ago
  > that can't handle refunds Please stop spreading this idiotic nonsense. Bitcoin, for all its faults, can handle refunds just fine. It just requires a different model than CCs do. You might as well say "cash can't handle refunds"...
  - bduerst 11y ago
    You're right, it requires a multisig escrow scheme which isn't new, unique to Bitcoin, and not innovative to payments, which is the context of this discussion.
  - abalone 11y ago
    They mean Bitcoin can't guarantee refunds if you are ripped off by the seller. Which, of course, neither can cash. Which is why Visa's generally a better way to pay when you don't completely trust the seller (or even when you do).
    - WatchDog 11y ago
      You can utilize bitcoin escrow services. Taking a look at the first service I found [1], the fees, the friction and the short period you can claim a refund within, make it seem like quite an inferior experience to using a credit card. [1] http://safepaybtc.com/ http://safepaybtc.com/