Orcus was a payment automation SaaS that simplified the payment process for small businesses who lacked a traditional payment processing service. It allowed them to use their personal bank or MFS (bKash, Nagad, etc) accounts to automate their billing and payment processes and create customized payment pages.
The system worked by processing transactional SMS messages that businesses received on their Android devices. To process and sync the SMSs with the Orcus server, a client app called 'Dakpion' was used. Dakpion is a Bangla word, which means "Postman". So, Dakpion would only read SMSs from specific banks and MFS and then send it to the Orcus server. On the backend, we used an LLM to parse the messages to extract transaction details. Using regex was not enough to due to different providers sending messages in different structures, often, the same provider would send the SMS in different structure failing the regex. Our users found the system to be very helpful, simplifying and automating the whole process. However, we had to sunset the project for various reasons.
Screenshots
Orcus Dashboard
Dakpion Mobile App
Key Features
- Payment Automation: Automatically process and reconcile payments from bank/MFS SMS notifications
- Custom Payment Pages: Create branded payment pages for customers
- Multi-Account Support: Manage multiple bank and MFS accounts
- WHMCS Integration: Seamless integration with WHMCS billing system
- Real-time Sync: Instant synchronization between mobile app and server
- Transaction Management: Comprehensive dashboard for managing all transactions
Technical Stack
Backend (Orcus)
- Node.js
- Drizzle ORM
- React for Admin dashboard
Mobile App (Dakpion)
- Kotlin
- Retrofit
- MVVM Architecture
How It Worked
- Customer makes a payment to business's bank/MFS account
- Business receives transaction SMS on their Android device
- Dakpion app automatically reads and syncs the SMS with server
- Transaction data is processed
- Payment is automatically reconciled with pending orders
- Business receives notification of successful payment
WHMCS Integration
Developed a marketplace plugin for WHMCS (available on WHMCS Marketplace) that allows hosting providers and web service businesses to automate their payment collection and invoice reconciliation.
Impact
This solution enabled small and medium businesses in Bangladesh to automate their payment processes without needing expensive payment gateways, using their existing bank and mobile financial service accounts.