September & October 2024 Recap

Infrastructure Updates

Migration to a New Cloud-Based Infrastructure
Earlier this year, around March, we embarked on a significant journey to migrate our entire infrastructure from our old setup to a new cloud-based environment. This wasn't just a simple move of data and services; it was a comprehensive overhaul aimed at enhancing the very foundation of how our systems operate. We saw this migration as an opportunity not only to transition to newer technology but also to make our infrastructure more robust and secure. Our objectives were clear: to better protect our systems from potential attackers and to increase stability and performance during periods of high traffic.

Increased Application Redundancy for Better Performance
While we cannot disclose specific technical details publicly for security reasons, we are eager to share some of the key improvements we've made. One of the major enhancements involves increasing the number of deployed applications with built-in redundancy. In practical terms, this means we now run multiple copies of the same service simultaneously. By doing so, we ensure that the workload is evenly distributed across these copies, which significantly improves performance and reliability. If one instance experiences an issue, the others can seamlessly take over, minimizing downtime and ensuring a smooth experience for you.

Enhanced Security with Advanced DDoS Management and Firewalls
Security has been a paramount focus during this migration. We have implemented advanced Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) management and firewall strategies. DDoS attacks attempt to overwhelm a network or service with a flood of internet traffic, potentially causing disruptions. Our new DDoS management tools and firewall configurations are designed to detect and mitigate such attacks more effectively. This means we can maintain uninterrupted service even in the face of malicious activities, keeping your interactions with our services secure and reliable.

Adoption of GitOps for Streamlined Development and Deployment
To streamline our development and deployment processes, we've adopted a methodology known as GitOps. GitOps leverages Git repositories as the single source of truth for both application and infrastructure code. By automating deployments in a safe and controlled manner, we reduce the potential for human error and accelerate the rollout of new features and updates. This approach allows our developers to concentrate on what they do best: creating innovative features and improving existing ones, rather than spending valuable time on manual configurations and deployments.

Comprehensive Internal Infrastructure Documentation
Documentation is another area we've significantly enhanced. We have thoroughly documented our infrastructure internally, creating detailed guides and references for our team. This comprehensive documentation is crucial for optimizing future enhancements and allows for more efficient troubleshooting and development. It ensures that knowledge is shared across the team, reducing dependencies on specific individuals and fostering a collaborative environment.

Migration to a More Scalable Database System
Recognizing the need for scalability and performance, we've migrated to a more scalable database infrastructure. Databases are critical components that store and manage the data essential for our services. The new scalable database system allows us to handle larger volumes of data more efficiently, accommodating growth and providing faster access to information when you need it.

Improved Message Queue Management with Redundancy
We also revisited how we manage our message queues, which are systems that handle communication between different parts of our applications. By introducing better redundancy in our message queues, we enhance the reliability of these communications. This means that even if one part of the system experiences issues, messages are not lost, and operations continue smoothly.

Application of the Latest Security Patches
Keeping our systems secure is an ongoing commitment. We have applied the latest security patches across all our platforms, ensuring that we protect against known vulnerabilities and maintain compliance with security best practices. Regular updates and patches are essential to safeguard our infrastructure against emerging threats and to provide a secure environment for your data.

New Swish Integration for Enhanced Payment Stability
Lastly, we've completely rewritten our integration with Swish, a widely used payment solution. The new integration is designed to be more stable and resilient. One of the key benefits is improved recovery of payment states when Swish experiences issues. This means that if there are interruptions or delays on Swish's end, our system can handle these situations more effectively, reducing the impact on your transactions and ensuring a smoother payment experience.

Summary of Infrastructure Enhancements and Improved User Experience
These extensive enhancements have significantly improved our infrastructure's robustness, security, and performance. We are now better equipped to provide you with reliable services, even during peak usage times or unexpected challenges. We are pleased to report that, for the most part, these changes have gone unnoticed by you, which is precisely our goal—to implement improvements without disrupting your experience.

Acknowledgment of Minor Issues and Appreciation for Patience
We acknowledge that some of you may have encountered minor issues related to this infrastructure change, and we sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused. Your patience and understanding are greatly appreciated. Considering the scale and complexity of the migration, we believe the process has been a success. We are excited about the future and remain committed to continually enhancing our services to meet your needs.

Thank you for your continued support and for being a valued part of our community. We look forward to serving you better with our improved infrastructure.

API Updates

The team has of course not stopped on working on features despite the clear focus on infrastructure updates.

Introducing Deposit References in our API
We are pleased to announce the addition of the Deposit References feature to our API. This new functionality allows you to manage incoming bank transfers by connecting them to specific payments, particularly useful for handling unmatched transfers that cannot automatically fund a deposit payment. With this feature, you can retrieve all deposit references, get details of specific references including associated bank transfers, and manually connect unmatched transfers to non-funded payments. Additionally, you can register a callback URL to receive notifications when new unmatched transfers arrive, enabling a more efficient and automated workflow. This enhancement aims to streamline your payment processing and ensure that payments are correctly funded.

Read the guidlines here:
https://docs.pingpayments.com/reference/deposit-reference-guidelines

This also brings close to the same functionality that was previously only available to customers utilizing the DepositBankAccounts API with their own dedicated physical account. But now it works even if you have a shared physical account, or of course, also with a dedicated account, but then on a bank transfer level, instead of a bank account level.

Introducing Liquidity Accounts Retrieval in our API
We are excited to announce a new addition to our API: the ability to retrieve all Liquidity Accounts associated with your tenant. This feature allows you to access detailed information such as account balances, names, and currencies. You can filter the results by currency, balance range, and account holder details for more targeted queries. Pagination parameters are also available to help manage large datasets efficiently. This enhancement provides greater visibility and control over your liquidity accounts, enabling you to monitor and manage your financial resources more effectively.

Endpoint:
https://docs.pingpayments.com/reference/v1getliquidityaccounts

Introducing Agreement Deletion in our API
We are pleased to announce a new feature in our API that allows you to delete agreements programmatically. With the Delete Agreement endpoint, you can now remove agreements by specifying the agreement ID and providing necessary details such as who initiated the deletion and the reason for it. This enhancement gives you greater control over agreement management, enabling you to efficiently handle agreements that are no longer needed or valid. By incorporating this functionality, we aim to streamline your workflows and improve the overall efficiency of managing agreements within your applications.

Endpoint:
https://docs.pingpayments.com/reference/v1deleteagreement

Great things ahead

We are on the verge of releasing some new exciting payment functionality as well. Mainly

• Swish Recurring
• Swish Scan & Swish
• Svea Invoice

We believe these features will have great benefits for all of our customers. And if you would like to know more, send us a chat in your Slack-channel or write us an email to [email protected] and someone will help you out!

Til' next time, take care and enjoy the fall!