AssuredCredit, Payment Gateway Technology SolutionsAssuredCreditThe record
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The Origins of the Online Payment Gateway 1998

The creation of a software based framework from the AssuredCard.co 1994 payment processing framework to 1998 for managed modem connections was the game changer for creation of real time online processing for consumer and business financial products. It was the key technology needed to build the first Online Payment Gateway!

NOTE: TAPI 2.0 was released in 1998 with supported ACD and PBX-specific software based programmable functionality. ACD handled call management and terminal connections with multiple terminal profiles for authorization using AssuredCredit XML technology. This programmable function was critical to building the first working online payment gateway.

AssuredCard Dashboard & Operations Applications

We had inquired about using the Microsoft CRM and Sage Windows Accounting package for AssuredCard operations. The pricing and learning curve including for customization pushed us to focus back on the CRM and Accounting packages we started building for the updated SuccessInc. Jobs App. It was also the best option financially for our long term vision of a hosted service.

We had a good understanding of C++⁠[1] and Visual Studio so imported the templates we had been building into the Windows development platform. Visual Studio 6.0 was released with Visual J++ which we used for programming.⁠[2] We were notified Microsoft had to remove the J++ Java Engine as part of a settlement with SunMicrosystems. This was one of the events that pushed us to a SunMicrosystem solution.

We created a front end Dashboard and Windows Portal (as below) for AssuredCard operations as the processing at the early stages was predominantly manual. We added the Gateway Payments button for Admin only as most of the functions and service settings were hard coded in the early version.

SuccessInc, named above, is where the record on maynardldokken.com begins the line that led to this gateway: its network gateway was built in 1987–1988, and its first application, online employment recruitment, ran in 1988.⁠[3][4][5] How that work fed into Assured Card and Assured Credit is set out step by step on The innovations behind the payment gateway.

Dashboard

Screen mock-up of the AssuredCard Account Online Portal Manager, logged in as Admin, with buttons for Customers, Requests, Messages, Calendar and Gateway Payments, and for Steps Process, Registrations, Payment Requests, Add Customer, Forms and Analytics.
AssuredCard Origin Menu CRM Accounting Payment Gateway

AssuredCard Original Systems Dashboard & Portal with Payment Gateway Admin

Steps | Registrations | Customers | Messages | Calendar | Forms

Analytics (Reports)

Gateway Payments (Admin Only Hard Coded)

Operations Portal

Screen mock-up of the AssuredCard Account Manager, CRM and Billing: a Windows-style application with steps status and settings, an income-and-expense list, a customer history window and a customer record with name, address, phone and email fields filled with sample data.
AssuredCard Account Manager CRM Billing Portal

Core Online Gateway NT IIS SQL System Services

We had a system built on Windows including SQL and NT.⁠[1] Microsoft was accelerating its technology development as IBM, SunMicrosystems, Oracle and Netscape and many others were pushing the envelope.

We had many issues with Microsoft related to the cost of licensing. At this early stage the cost to change was too great and Microsoft had the lead in browser based access with ActiveX and Internet Explorer which had over 60% of the marketplace with their Windows 95 and 98 dominance.

We completed this version of the online payment gateway with the focus on a scalable hosted version. That was how Milinx was born. It turned into an innovation powerhouse.

Diagram, Online Payment Gateway Version 1-1998: the gateway stack (NT Server services: Active Directory LDAP Protocol, ASP Active Server Pages, CryptoAPI, TAPI API 2.0; SQL services; IIS services) on a Windows NT gateway server with SCSI storage, linked to an NT Workstation gateway manager, to IIS Connect (network OLE DCOM) and to a terminal modem on a telephone line (TAPI 2.0 AT).
AssuredCredit Original Architecture Online Payment Gateway Setup

Core Online Gateway NT IIS SQL System Services

Gateway NT Server Services

  • Active Directory LDAP Protocol
  • ASP Active Server Pages
  • CryptoAPI
  • TAPI API 2.0

SQL Services

  • SQL Authentication
  • Remote Connect
  • Database Mapping

IIS Services

  • ASP Active Server Pages Extension
  • Microsoft Transaction Server (MTS) Session Management

Online Payment Gateway Forms, Processing & Authorization

Forms, Processing and Authorization were our focus. We had TAPI 2.0 in NT 4.0⁠[6] with ACD software framework for programming the disparate and newly created processing networks not yet unified. We had online connectivity with the release of Internet Explorer 4.0 and Windows 95, 98 & NT compatibility and server side scripts. It was the easiest path to the first online payment gateway.

Flowchart, AssuredCredit Gateway Forms Processing Routing Authorization: after Make Payment is clicked, a transaction code and logs are created; email, phone, address and card (BIN or IIS) checks run against AssuredCard data; data that passes goes to the ACD modem connection profile chosen from acd.xml by issuer or product; an authorization code produces a thank-you billing page, while failures produce an error page or an alert for manual review.
AssuredCredit Gateway Forms Processing Routing Authorization

DHTML Forms

  • Online Annual Payments
  • Thank You Billing Details
  • Verification Error Page

AssuredCredit - Fraud & Card Integrity Protection

  • Step 1 validation all forms necessary were completed
  • Step 2 address, phone and email validation using AssuredCard database of customers
  • Step 3 BIN & IIS Credit Card or Financial Institution number integrity
  • Step 4 CVC2-CSC or PIN for Card Security Verification if available as only MasterCard and American Express used network based Card Verification Services

Authorization

  • Routing based on Credit Card or Financial Institution
  • Terminal Profile Selection TAPI ACD.XML
  • Connection Routing TAPI ACD Profiles

XML

  • XML Routing Files
  • XML ACD Profiles
  • ACD.XML

Java

  • KeyStore
  • JSSE Java Secure Socket Extension
  • Customer Key Management

Java Security - KeyStore java.security.KeyStore & JSSE

System, connection and data integrity was a top level consideration. The Java library provided critical pieces for this early version from key management to secure transmission.

The two core components were the KeyStore itself and the JSSE or Java Secure Socket Extension.⁠[1] This was one of the most straight forward pieces of development yet critical for success of the first Online Payment Gateway. It was also challenging as it required error proof coding.

Java KeyStore java.security.KeyStore

  • FileInputStream
  • TrustManager
  • SSLContext
  • KeyManagerFactory
  • Enumeration
  • InputStream

The KeyStore held keys for secure connections and system data integrity:

  • Private
  • Public
  • Secret

JSSE Java Secure Socket Extension

  • Data Encryption
  • Server Authentication
  • Message Integrity
  • Client-authentication

The Java Secure Socket Extension (JSSE) is an implementation of SunJSSE that enabled secure Internet communications in a Java Runtime Environment. It implemented a Java technology version of the Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) and later Transport Layer Security (TLS) protocols which were provisioned for the initial Hosted version built by AssuredCredit.⁠[1]

About this page

This page keeps the original page published at assuredcredit.co/origins-online-payment-gateway-version-1-0-1998, in its original words. The original page title read: “AssuredCredit - The Origins of the Online Payment Gateway”. Headings, introductions, the key-facts slip, captions and reference markers were added to make the record easier to read and to check; a few obvious typing errors were corrected. Facts follow the record on maynardldokken.com.

References

Numbered in the order they are first cited on this page. Each entry links back to the places that cite it.

  1. ↑ a b c d e f g Assured Credit: “Technology and architecture”. Maynard L. Dokken, maynardldokken.com, updated 2 November 2026.
  2. ↑ Visual Studio: 6.0 (1998). Wikipedia.
  3. ↑ SuccessInc: “The gateway: how it was built (1987–1988)”. Maynard L. Dokken, maynardldokken.com, updated 2 November 2026.
  4. ↑ SuccessInc: “Applications” (online employment recruitment, 1988; community, 1994). Maynard L. Dokken, maynardldokken.com, updated 2 November 2026.
  5. ↑ Assured Credit: “Legacy”. Maynard L. Dokken, maynardldokken.com, updated 2 November 2026.
  6. ↑ Telephony Application Programming Interface (TAPI). Wikipedia.

Further reading

Background on terms, companies and records the page mentions. These sources are not cited for any statement.