Our client is a subscription photo editing platform serving creative professionals and agencies worldwide. With AI-powered automation and intelligent styling tools, they help teams process large image sets efficiently while maintaining visual consistency.

The client recognized that their payment infrastructure should deliver the same seamless, professional experience that users expected from the rest of their platform; instead, it was doing the very opposite. Subscription quirks and platform limitations were creating problems at every level. Customers encountered billing irregularities and confusing renewal flows. Support teams were managing recurring payment issues. Engineers spent valuable time debugging edge cases instead of building features. Meanwhile, international expansion was accelerating the pressure for an improved platform. Growing operations across multiple regions meant navigating complex and evolving tax requirements (VAT, GST, and other compliance obligations) that demanded greater accuracy, compliance, and automation, all while reducing customer-facing friction. The existing system simply wasn't built for this complexity.

The business needed a modern payment solution that could support global growth, operational efficiency, and improved customer experience, but migrating hundreds of active subscriptions without eroding customer trust is a daunting task.

Kirschbaum designed and executed a phased migration strategy that prioritized risk mitigation, customer satisfaction, and service continuity above all else. Rather than attempting a "big bang" switchover, we built dual-processor support that allowed both systems to run in parallel during a carefully managed transition window.

Our approach centered on:

• Gentle rollout: New customers immediately began using Stripe, while existing customers continued uninterrupted on Braintree.

• Secure data migration: Working with both processors, we transferred payment tokens and customer data without requiring users to re-enter billing information.

• Subscription preservation: Existing subscriptions were recreated in Stripe with precise timing to maintain billing cycles and prevent any service gaps or double charges.

• Continuous validation: Each phase included production testing and monitoring before proceeding to the next stage.

This customer-centric approach meant the technical complexity lived entirely behind the scenes, where it belonged.

The migration succeeded on every critical dimension:

• Hundreds of active subscriptions transitioned to Stripe without a single customer-facing incident.

• Zero service disruptions meant customers continued their work uninterrupted and unaware.

• Global scalability was unlocked through Stripe's advanced compliance tools, fraud prevention, automated tax handling, and reporting capabilities.

• Engineering overhead decreased enabling energy to be redirected toward product features that directly serve customers.

This project embodies our belief that modernizing critical business infrastructure does not require drama or disruption: rather, it requires patience, planning, and unwavering focus on what matters most to the business. By choosing a methodical, phased approach, and by keeping customer experience paramount throughout technical decision-making, we delivered a core system improvement that created a foundation for sustainable, customer-centric global growth.