Introduction
Our client envisioned a platform that acts as a bridge between Digital Key Distributors and Vendors, where vendors could purchase digital keys from distributors, make secure payments through the system, and the platform would automatically deduct the client’s commission on each transaction. This approach not only simplified the payment and settlement process but also ensured transparency, proper tracking of transactions, and a scalable revenue model for the client.
To address this vision, we developed a custom web application that streamlined the interaction between Digital Key Distributors and Vendors. The platform provides a centralized Admin Dashboard for oversight and a Seller Dashboard equipped with tools for managing payments, disbursements, and handling employees. Payments are securely processed through Stripe, while Checkbook supports direct disbursements to external vendors. The system also ensured that the client’s commission was automatically deducted from each transaction, making the platform secure, automated, and revenue-generating.
Application Details
The development was carried out in well-structured phases to ensure modular rollout and smooth adoption.
1. Admin Dashboard
A comprehensive control panel was built for administrators to oversee the platform’s operations. Core functionalities included:
- Seller Management: Onboard and manage multiple sellers.
- Business Control: Monitor the number of businesses each seller can create.
- Checkbook Oversight: The admin has the ability to enable or disable seller Checkbook wallet through the dashboard.
2. Seller Dashboard
A tailored interface was designed for sellers to manage their business operations and finances. Key features included:
Business Creation : Sellers could add and manage multiple businesses.
Custom Payment Links : Each business is assigned a secure, system-generated payment link for transactions.These links are custom-built within our platform. This allowed us to maintain control over the checkout experience, ensure brand consistency, and still process payments securely through Stripe’s APIs in the backend.
Technical Implementations
- Frontend: Developed using Next.js for a clean, responsive, and interactive UI.
- Backend: Built with Node.js and Express.js for secure API development and smooth business logic handling.
- Database: MongoDB was utilized for flexible and scalable storage of seller, business, employee, and transaction data.
- Stripe Integration: Enabled generation of secure payment links, ensuring fast and reliable customer transactions.
- Checkbook Integration: Supported direct disbursements to vendors with detailed transaction histories.
- Role-Based Access Control: Implemented for sellers to assign limited permissions to employees, ensuring data security.
Implementation Insights
Developing this system required solving several technical challenges to ensure scalability, security, and seamless payment handling across multiple sellers and businesses.
1.Multi-User Architecture Creation
One of the key requirements was supporting multiple sellers, each managing several businesses under their own account. We designed the system with a multi-user architecture in mind, ensuring data isolation between sellers while still allowing the admin to maintain global oversight. Structuring the MongoDB schemas to separate sellers, businesses, employees, and transactions was crucial to prevent data overlap or unauthorized access.
2. Real-Time Transaction Updates
A key challenge was ensuring sellers received instant updates on new payments. To solve this, we implemented real-time monitoring that refreshed the dashboard automatically whenever a new transaction occurred. We added a notification beep and visual highlight for better visibility. Using React Query’s auto-fetching, the system stayed in sync without manual refresh, giving sellers quick and reliable awareness of their transaction flow.
3.Payment Integration (Stripe & Checkbook)
Integrating Stripe and Checkbook posed challenges in handling multiple payment flows:
- It was challenging because we had to build custom payment links ensuring each link is secure, business-specific, and properly mapped to transactions. This required careful handling of data isolation, error management, and security validation.
- Integrating Checkbook for disbursements to external customers was challenging due to limited and unclear documentation. Through extensive R&D and testing, we ensured reliable API implementation with accurate tracking of payment history and secure fund handling.
4.Checkbook Payment History Management
Managing the record of payments through Checkbook required a robust transaction history module. We designed this so that every disbursement request triggered logging in MongoDB, ensuring that historical data could be audited at any point. A major challenge was synchronizing Checkbook’s transaction statuses with our database. To solve this, we set up scheduled background jobs (via Node cron jobs) to reconcile records and update statuses (Pending, Completed, Failed).
5.Role-Based Access Control (RBAC)
The client required a feature where sellers could add employees with restricted access. To achieve this, we implemented role-based access control (RBAC) at the backend using Express middleware. Employees could have limited access to certain modules. This demanded a granular permission model embedded into the API layer for security.
6.Scalability and Performance
Since the client expected the number of sellers and transactions to grow, scalability was a primary concern. We optimized database queries using MongoDB indexes for frequently accessed fields like seller ID, business ID, and transaction status. Additionally, we used pagination and filtering for large transaction logs to ensure fast dashboard loading times.
Conclusion:
The Digital Key Payment Management Platform successfully transformed the client’s operations by centralizing seller, business, and payment management into one scalable system. Through the integration of Stripe and Checkbook, the platform automated both collections and disbursements while maintaining transparent transaction histories. Features like role-based access control, real-time transaction updates, and scalable MongoDB design ensured security, reliability, and efficiency. Ultimately, the solution replaced error-prone manual workflows with a robust, user-friendly, and future-ready platform capable of supporting the client’s growth..