Is it possible to make a payment gateway/processor under the GNU license?

[Tacticruel]

Hello, I'm new here and for clarification, I'm an artist. And like other artists, I want to take commissions but the payment options like Stripe, PayPal, CashApp, etc... Are limited in terms of availability and usually have fees. Two other reasons are that people would usually need a Stripe/PP/CA account to send money to another person using said app. I've also seen people say that big gateways like PayPal will close people's accounts if they suspect "suspicious activity" and will close people's accounts with no warnings. They will also keep your money behind your closed account and unless you file a complaint with the BBB, your shit out of luck. Many people have lost money due to them doing this.

I want to know if it's possible to make a payment processor and gateway under the GNU license? My idea would be that it's open source, self hosted, and doesn't have fees in terms of exchanging money. A way how payments would be made are via credit/debit cards, and the people exchanging wouldn't need an account in most cases. The only people who would need an account is the people actively getting money from commissioners.

I feel like adding ways to pay or even payment processors under the GNU license will help out artists or just normal people in general. Not only can it benefit the people using this, but it can also help expand the GNU license outside of certain software. I would like to know people's thoughts about it.

 

[KGIII]

I want to know if it's possible to make a payment processor and gateway under the GNU license?

Yup. That'd be perfectly fine.

There are numerous FOSS licenses besides the GPL. You could look to those as well.

I'm not sure how many folks will want to adopt that. I'm not sure how that will fit with banking regulations. I presume this processor will need some sort of bank backing - as in at least an agreement to the credit card processor banks.

 

[Tacticruel]

I'm not sure how many folks will want to adopt that. I'm not sure how that will fit with banking regulations. I presume this processor will need some sort of bank backing - as in at least an agreement to the credit card processor banks.

See, I was thinking about that too. You probably could get some of the banks on board considering it'll cut out the middle man of the big payment gateways. However, one would need a lot a persuading in order to back something like this.

There are numerous FOSS licenses besides the GPL. You could look to those as well.

Thank you. I'll look into those licenses as well. I might ask some friends who dabbled into computer science about this and see what we could spit ball.

 

[KGIII]

I might ask some friends who dabbled into computer science about this and see what we could spit ball.

I'd also consider finding a lawyer that specializes in software licenses and asking for a consult. Many will give you an initial consultation at no cost.

 

[Tacticruel]

I'd also consider finding a lawyer that specializes in software licenses and asking for a consult. Many will give you an initial consultation at no cost.

Thank you, thank you. I'll look into this. Thank you for your help, dude.

 

[JamesLopez]

Hello, I'm new here and for clarification, I'm an artist. And like other artists, I want to take commissions but the payment options like Stripe, PayPal, CashApp, etc... Are limited in terms of availability and usually have fees. Two other reasons are that people would usually need a Stripe/PP/CA account to send money to another person using said app. I've also seen people say that big gateways like PayPal will close people's accounts if they suspect "suspicious activity" and will close people's accounts with no warnings. They will also keep your money behind your closed account and unless you file a complaint with the BBB, your shit out of luck. Many people have lost money due to them doing this.

I want to know if it's possible to make a payment processor and gateway under the GNU license? My idea would be that it's open source, self hosted, and doesn't have fees in terms of exchanging money. A way how payments would be made are via credit/debit cards, and the people exchanging wouldn't need an account in most cases. The only people who would need an account is the people actively getting money from commissioners.

I feel like adding ways to pay or even payment processors under the GNU license will help out artists or just normal people in general. Not only can it benefit the people using this, but it can also help expand the GNU license outside of certain software. I would like to know people's thoughts about it.

Thank you a lot!

 

[APTI]

I looked into doing this. You will run into issues because the banks and credit card processors charge fees everytime you use them. And to do charges you MUST use one of them. You can make an open source processor but those using it will have to have accounts that they get charged for. But the software processing can be made free. I have a linux based point of sale and I'd love to find a way to process the cards direct from the software. Basically you'll have to work with a processing company to do the actual processing of transactions. Which means those using the software have to have account with same processing company. Each one is different in requirements and operation. Most likely you will have the best response from Square up. They are the only ones that may work with you being small.

If you need help I would be happy to help since the project will benefit me.