Bridging Shopify with Open-Banking Payments
Country
United Kingdom
Industry
Financial ServicesTechnologies
Ruby on Rails
AWS Cloud Services (EC2, ECR, S3, CodePipeline, CodeDeploy, KMS)
GitHub
RSpec Unit Testing
Sidekiq
Polaris View Components
Goals
Sometimes the best solutions come from solving real problems. Boodil came to us with a challenge that many payment providers face: they had a robust payment processing solution but couldn't connect it to Shopify's ecosystem, so Shopify merchants couldn’t utilize it. That's where we stepped in to build the bridge.
01
Seamless Shopify app development
Create a reliable application and integration between Boodil's payment processing solution and Shopify stores, enabling merchants to accept payments through Boodil's solution without any technical hassles.
02
Flexibility and scale in-mind
Develop a scalable solution that could grow and evolve as Boodil’s solution does.
03
Enterprise-ready features
Implement essential payment features like automated refunds, sandbox testing environments, and secure transaction processing that meet Shopify's strict requirements.
Challenge
Building a payments application and integration comes with a unique set of challenges to ensure a secure and stable solution. Naturaily faced the complex task of integrating Boodil’s product offering within Shopify's ecosystem while maintaining the highest security standards.
Sam Owens
COO & Co-Founder of Boodil
We had a payment processing solution that worked great, but we needed to build a Shopify Application that delivered the same experience and performance for the Shopify ecosystem. So we needed experts who understood both worlds and could build the application we needed.
The biggest challenges Boodil faced before starting to work with Naturaily were rooted in their limited technical knowledge of the Shopify platform.
The main challenges included:
Complex architecture to enable future growth
Boodil needed to support different currencies, features and nuances across different geographic markets, each with unique requirements.
Shopify ecosystem compliance
Meeting Shopify's stringent requirements for payment apps, including security protocols, webhook handling, and app store approval processes.
Security and reliability
Implementing robust security measures including HMAC verification, encrypted data handling, and secure webhook processing to ensure transaction integrity.
Scalability requirements
Building a system capable of handling high transaction volumes while maintaining fast response times and reliable performance.
Approach
We knew that building payment integrations requires more than just technical skills, as it demands a deep understanding of both e-commerce and financial systems. Our strategy focused on creating a flexible, secure platform that could grow with Boodil's expanding product and aspirations.
Sam Owens
COO & Co-Founder of Boodil
Naturaily's expertise in the Shopify platform and their exceptional project management made this a seamless experience. They really understood what we needed and delivered exactly that.
Our approach centered on creating a robust intermediary layer that could handle their future product expansion and features while maintaining security and performance:
Ruby on Rails foundation
We chose Ruby on Rails for its proven track record in financial applications and rapid development capabilities, ensuring we could build a secure and maintainable solution.
AWS cloud infrastructure
Leveraging AWS services provided the scalability and reliability needed for payment processing, with automated CI/CD pipelines ensuring smooth deployments and updates.
Security-first architecture
Every aspect of the system was designed with security in mind, from HMAC verification for all requests to encrypted storage of sensitive data and secure webhook handling.
Asynchronous processing
Using Sidekiq for background job processing ensured that payment operations remained fast and responsive, even during peak transaction periods.
We designed a thin Shopify app and a fat intermediary layer:
Headless wrapper – The Rails core handles payment authorisations, refunds, and webhook parsing once; enabling additional functionality or swapping the geographical market is just a YAMP change.
AWS everywhere – Immutable Docker images in ECR, autoscaling EC2, encrypted secrets in KMS, and a CodePipeline → CodeDeploy train that ships on green tests.
Sidekiq for heavy lifting – All network chatter (APIs, webhooks) runs in background jobs so checkout stays lightning-fast.
Polaris View Components – Native-looking config screens; merchants paste keys, toggle test mode, hit “Save”, start selling.
Security first – Dual HMAC verification: incoming calls from Shopify and outgoing calls to provider, plus encrypted PII at rest.
Overcoming Technical Challenges
While the Naturaily team always ensures projects run extremely smoothly, there were of course challenges presented along the way. As Boodil explains: "The main challenges were really centred around bridging the gap between the payment solution we have on one side, and transposing this in the correct manner to not only conform with the Shopify criteria but actually make for a great user experience."
The team had to make certain UX, process, feature and technical performance tweaks required to bridge that gap. Some of these required careful consideration and thought, with the Naturaily team always thinking multiple steps ahead about the implications of making seemingly small changes and how they could impact future features or plans for the solution.
Results
We successfully transformed Boodil from a standalone payment processor to one with an approved Shopify payment application, opening up new markets and revenue streams for their business.
Sam Owens
COO & Co-Founder of Boodil
The results have been fantastic. We have many stores utilising our solution, and we're expanding into new markets whilst bringing out new functionality with confidence. The platform Naturaily built has become the foundation of our growth.
Boodil measured success in two key ways. First, obtaining application approval, which meant the build conformed to Shopify's high standards. Second, merchant performance, which has been incredibly strong. They encounter nothing but positive feedback from their merchants who compliment the ease of use and install as well as overall reliability of the solution.
Multi-market expansion
The platform now supports multiple currencies and markets with different payment features, enabling Boodil to serve customers in several markets.
Strong merchant adoption
Boodil’s solution continues to see strong merchant installs and usage demonstrating market demand and solution effectiveness.
Scalable architecture
The system successfully handles multiple payment methods and can easily accommodate new product features and functionality as Boodil expands into additional markets.
Enterprise-grade security
All payment processing meets the highest security standards, with comprehensive HMAC verification and encrypted data handling throughout the system.
Significant market opportunity unlocked
Since collaborating with Naturaily on their Shopify payments proposition, Boodil has unlocked a significant market opportunity which was previously not available for them to present their solution to. The addressable market is currently in excess of 3.5 million stores and growing as Shopify's platform continues to expand.
Being able to transpose their payments journey away from the Shopify ecosystem and bring it into the platform was transformative for them. The performance and app build exceeded their expectations.
Outcome
What felt like a real game-changer for Boodil was the overall app performance and user experience.
Before
Boodil had a solid payment processing solution but couldn't integrate it into Shopify, limiting their market reach and growth potential in the e-commerce space.
After
Boodil now operates as an approved Shopify payment partner with multi-market presence, expanding globally with confidence.
Improvements
Our work resulted in:
Market access
Direct integration with Shopify's ecosystem, opening access to thousands of potential merchant customers worldwide.
Geographic expansion
Multi-market support, accounting for nuances across different regions enabling true global operations.
Merchant growth
Strong merchant adoption and usage with the ability to scale into new markets.
Operational efficiency
Automated refund processing and sandbox testing environments that reduce manual work and improve merchant experience.
Security compliance
Enterprise-grade security measures that meet Shopify's strict requirements.
Scalable foundation
A flexible architecture that easily accommodates future functionality and features as Boodil continues to scale.
Most Interesting Features
Flexible and scalable
Multi-market bridge architecture
Rather than building separate solutions for each market, we created a unified platform that can seamlessly enable this for Boodiil. This approach has allowed Boodil to expand their product offering and merchant base into new markets quickly while maintaining a consistent merchant experience.
Bulletproof security
Secure webhook processing
We implemented comprehensive security measures including HMAC verification for all requests, ensuring that only authorized requests from Shopify can initiate payments or refunds. This prevents unauthorized access and protects both merchants and customers.
Risk-free testing
Sandbox testing environment
Every application includes a complete sandbox environment where merchants can test the entire payment flow without processing real transactions. This feature significantly reduces implementation barriers and increases merchant confidence
The Team
Our dedicated team combined deep Shopify expertise with robust backend development skills to deliver a payment solution that truly works for merchants and providers alike.
Sam Owens
COO & Co-Founder of Boodil
Communication from Konrad, Mateusz and the team was fantastic - really clear and timely, always available and on-hand if we had any questions. It felt seamless and well-managed throughout.
About The Client
Boodil is a forward-thinking payment processing company that specializes in creating innovative payment solutions for e-commerce businesses.
Project
Shopify Payment Gateway Integration
Industry
Financial Services
Web
BoodilThey company focuses on providing secure, reliable payment processing while expanding into new markets and offering unique benefits to both merchants and customers.
We're thrilled with the results. Naturaily clearly are experts within the Shopify platform and their work is fantastic. I have recommended them and will continue to do so.
Sam Owens
COO & Co-Founder of Boodil
The Shopify opportunity awaits
Just like Boodil, your solution could be reaching thousands of merchants worldwide. Transform your fintech product into a Shopify success story.
We're making a difference on the web, together
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