How AWS Helped OakNorth Build UK’s First Cloud Based Bank

AWS has helped a young fintech provider, OakNorth, build the UK’s first cloud based bank, paving the way for a whole new breed of cloud banking services in the region.

In a field where security is the paramount factor.

OakNorth Bank is described by its founders as the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs. And it became functional a year ago this month, with help from Amazon Web Services that worked with the company to achieve this historic feat.

Senior representatives from OakNorth and AWS talked about these details, revealing how they manager their workflow reliably thanks to the cloud technology of the AWS platform.

Francesca Gandolfo, COO of OakNorth, on why his organization had its eye on creating a cloud-based banking solution from the onset:

“First of all, we are a fintech. We position ourselves as being cutting-edge in terms of technology. So, we wanted to reap the benefits of it where it made sense.”

As for why they went with AWS, Gandolfo says that he decision was a straightforward one, as they wanted a cloud provider with a proven scale and scope that Amazon Web Services offers. Setting up cloud hosted systems took a little time coming together, but things moved quickly in late 2015:

“We really wanted to have a global player that could leverage across all our geography, and bring us all the benefits of scale and scope that we could not afford being a start-up.”

Meanwhile, AWS chief evangelist EMEA, Ian Massingham, shared more insights on this, detailing that the cloud provider did not have to implement any special security measures in place for the bank:

“We have over 1,800 different security controls that we apply to AWS. This means that not only can we meet the security and regulatory requirements that come from the FCA, but we can also meet, and exceed, the standards that are set by many other regulators around the world.”

The whole article is an excellent read, and highlights how being in the cloud helps the bank move faster, and make decisions at a much quicker clip.

Give it a read here.