Choosing a cloud service provider for fintech [downloadable]

by Ned Hallett
As Digital Marketing Manager and JAM’s primary pair of lungs, I provide the JAM-y take on the ever-evolving worlds of DevOps, SaaS, MACH - and acronyms yet to be coined.
Published on July 2022

Why a public cloud provider cheat sheet for fintechs?

In 2022, many of the biggest trends in fintech are being driven by cloud computing services.

Advances in data, security and even IoT are all inextricably linked to the cloud, and yet fewer fintechs are embracing this techno-utopia than you might imagine.

So, we thought we’d make things a bit easier…

What’s in the cheat sheet?

The three top public cloud service providers…

  • AWS 
  • Azure 
  • GCP

…compared on the four dimensions that matter most to fintechs:

  • Security 
  • Data management 
  • Compatibility with other financial technologies 
  • Cost 

Who is it for?

This is for any fintech product company considering a move to cloud for the first time, a migration from an existing cloud or hybrid cloud adoption.

Where is the cheat sheet?

Funny you should ask – it’s just here:

A bit more background – cloud and fintech 

Cloud is fundamentally linked to some of the major growth areas in fintech. Many BaaS, open banking and platform banking products are tied to the cloud (many are SaaS), and no small portion of the innovations in fintech are really innovations in cloud.

In short, cloud and fintech go together like nickels and dimes.

What’s important – what are fintechs looking for in a public cloud provider?

When putting this cheat sheet together, we looked at major growth areas in fintech alongside perennial concerns. The result is four dimensions of analysis that will matter to every financial technology product, both large and small.

Cloud security 

With fintechs suffering the second-highest breach impacts (healthcare takes the top spot) cloud security has always been a priority.

Add to this the saturated market and the uniquely high consumer trust needed to make a fintech product viable, and you have what we consider a top-four concern.

When it comes to the cloud, security and data have interesting tradeoffs, and this plays into the adoption of more up-to-date practices like DevSecOps, too. In our scoring, however, we’ve tried to take a broad approach, looking at how easy it is to secure each provider overall.

Data management 

Data is the bread and butter of most fintech products. From personal account information to credit ratings and purchases, it’s all numbers on a screen. This is why data management options are such a foundational part of any fintech product.

On this front, we’ve considered breadth and adaptability in giving our ranking – since many fintechs will be using their database services in completely different ways.

Compatibility with other financial technologies

Finance is highly regulated. In some cases, entry into a market is determined by compatibility with a long-established service – so compatibility and ease of integration is a big driver in fintech success.

In many cases, this simply comes down to a cloud provider’s depth of service, but some specific factors like AI/ML compatibility also influenced our rank.

Cost 

With fintech being a highly competitive market, pricing is a key concern. 

We’ve tried to rank each provider according to a very general idea of cost – although there is always going to be some variance depending on workload.

How the big three public cloud providers differ when it comes to fintech

AWS

With a team devoted to start-ups, fintechs and a combination of the two, AWS is a common go-to for many fintech businesses. It can boasts success stories such as Coinbase and Transferwise, and is perceived as the most mature, innovative and deep cloud offering in many industries.

Azure 

Azure occupies a similar role to AWS, although for some it plays second fiddle. Azure is distinguished somewhat by its impressive database offering and management options (a big boon in the fintech space) and it’s the cloud provider of choice for some notable businesses including HSBC and Clearent. 

Google Cloud Platform

A more standalone provider, GCP is smaller than both AWS and Azure, and, as such, is sometimes overlooked. However, GCP’s offerings in AI/ML (and a few other key areas) do set it apart.

And among its largerer users, GCP can count Monzo and PayPal.

How we can help

This cheat sheet is intended as an at-a-glance breakdown of some of our hard-won cloud knowledge.

But there’s a lot more where that came from.

We design, build and manage cloud-native infrastructures, and support mission-critical stacks through our trailblazing 24/7 cloud support service. Plus, we’re a great strategic partner in a landscape like fintech where technology sets the tone.

So, to find out how we could help you take your fintech to the next level, or for anything else, just get in touch.

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