Smarter solutions for secure payments

For USAePay, 2018 marks a year of milestones. The company launched a new website and tag line, and is also celebrating 20 years of providing gateway services to partners inside and outside of the payments industry.

For founders Ben and Alex Goretsky, the milestones come with memories of the hard work and passion each USAePay team member has sown into relationships cultivated over the past two decades.

Twenty years later, the brothers said that these relationships still represent everything the company stands for, and what it has become since they opened in borrowed space at their mother's home.

"We started USAePay in 1998, but it was two years in the making," said Ben Goretsky, USAePay Chief Executive Officer. "Prior, we were doing merchant accounts to get to know the industry."

According to Alex Goretsky, USAePay's Chief Financial Officer, they were in the right place at the right time. "Some of the banks we worked with were looking into IP-based processing and it required a payment gateway," Goretsky stated. "We didn't want to use a third-party solution and decided it was best to build the gateway ourselves."

Technology, and people, first

The first certification USAePay received was with First Data Corp. The company then approached more processors with integration invitations and eventually gravitated completely away from merchant accounts to become a technology company.

USAePay is now an established brand catering to a multitude of processors, merchant services providers, software makers and integration partners. The Goretskys made it important to gain an intimate understanding of the customers and their business challenges. "Over the years, we've implemented features based on what we learn from the customers and what they tell us about their needs," Ben Goretsky confirmed.

USAePay now has many departments and nearly 100 employees. The largest group is also the youngest group: the development department. The customer service department is second largest, followed by the reseller channel team, marketing and billing.

"If it weren't for our people, we wouldn't be where we are," Ben Goretsky said. "We're always trying to keep a friendly atmosphere and take care of our people."

The company's vibe is fintech and being in Los Angeles means it must be competitive to get the latest programmers. The Goretskys feel a different culture is needed for dealing with a younger employee base, and it is more about having an open environment that fosters constant communication and collaboration.

"It is a team effort versus just coming into work to sit behind your desk," Alex Goretsky noted.

Ready for emerging need

The Goretskys believe payments are becoming more relevant overall as well as the technology behind them. They built USAePay on the premise of paving the way, and being inventive, without compromising the existing platform.

They also follow an internal code. "Instead of using someone else's technology, if we can build it ourselves, then we say let's just do it," Ben Goretsky said.

Evolving security needs and challenges are also a constant factor for USAePay, and while the company's technology has never been breached, the founders are quick to confirm they must stay vigilant about containing breach attempts before they escalate.

Co-location across the nation also enables USAePay to manage traffic load, along with a myriad of redundant back-up and telecommunication lines. According to Alex Goretsky, hardware redundancy, load balancing and backup are the most critical pieces of USAePay's technology framework, with each one having an impact on regulating downtime.

"We've learned over the past 20 years there is always another entity we'll have to add into the up-time equation," Alex Goretsky said. "Today, we cannot afford to be down for even 30 seconds."

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