The integration mess that cost us a whole week of dev time

Last month we were trying to hook up our payment system to a new bank API. Three years ago I would have just trusted their docs and gone ahead. But this time I spent two days reading through their integration guides and still hit a wall. The sample code they provided was straight up broken for Canadian dollar transactions. We ended up having to call their support line 5 times before someone finally admitted the docs were outdated. Has anyone else dealt with a bank API that just wasn't ready for production?

3 comments

3 Comments

young.kim8d ago

Called their support line the second time and asked if they had a test environment that actually matched the docs. That saved us from wasting more time because they pointed us to a different version of the API that was meant for production use. Honestly, once we got on that version everything worked fine. Tbh I think a lot of these bank APIs have multiple versions running at the same time and the docs just don't keep up. Ngl, you gotta treat their documentation like a starting point and plan for at least a few days of troubleshooting before you can really trust it.

logan_ellis8d ago

Wait, did they actually give you a straight answer on the first call or did you have to push them hard for that info? Sounds like you caught someone on a good day because most support lines just read from a script and tell you it's your fault. Curious if their support has gotten better over time or if this was just a rare good experience.

jennifer_jenkins8d ago

Wait, they actually admitted there were multiple versions running and gave you a straight answer about which one to use? That's rare with most bank API support lines, usually you get a bunch of runaround first. Honestly sounds like you got lucky with a support person who actually knew what they were talking about.