PaymentServiceAdapter

PaymentServiceAdapter is an abstraction layer that unifies access to multiple payment gateways and processors from client applications. It provides a stable, provider-agnostic API and translates generic payment operations into provider-specific requests, shielding callers from differences in SDKs, REST endpoints, and data formats.

A typical adapter exposes a common set of operations such as create or authorize payment, capture funds, refund payment, void payment, and get payment status, along with support for payment intents, currency, amount, metadata, and idempotency keys. Implementations may also handle webhooks and event correlation to ensure consistent state across systems.

The architecture commonly follows the adapter or façade pattern. A central PaymentServiceAdapter delegates to one or more provider-specific adapters or clients. A provider registry or configuration selects the active gateway, and translation logic maps the generic API to each provider’s protocol, including error handling and retries. This structure helps encapsulate provider-specific quirks and simplifies testing and maintenance.

Use cases include e-commerce platforms that need to support multiple gateways, marketplaces coordinating split payments, and SaaS applications that switch providers to optimize fees or regional availability. Benefits include reduced coupling, easier testing, and the ability to switch providers with minimal code changes.

Security and compliance considerations cover PCI-DSS scope, tokenization, and not storing raw card data. Implementations should secure credentials, use encrypted channels, sanitize logs, and validate signatures from webhooks, while auditing transactions and handling sensitive data carefully. Design decisions should address performance impact, feature parity across providers, error translation, observability, and API versioning to minimize breaking changes.