Building a Compliant Fintech Platform in 3 Months
How we helped a Nordic fintech startup launch their payment processing platform with full PSD2 compliance, going from concept to production in just 12 weeks.
Key Results
The Challenge
Our client, a Nordic fintech startup, had a bold vision: a modern payment processing platform for small businesses in Scandinavia. They needed to launch fast to capture market opportunity, but the platform had to be fully compliant with PSD2 (Payment Services Directive 2) and GDPR from day one.
Their previous agency quoted 9 months and €400,000. They came to Soatech looking for a faster, more cost-effective path to market.
Our Approach
Week 1–2: Discovery & Architecture
We started with an intensive discovery sprint. Our team worked directly with the client's product owner and compliance officer to:
- Map out the complete regulatory requirements
- Design a microservices architecture that separated payment processing from the customer-facing application
- Create a security-first infrastructure plan with encryption at rest and in transit
- Define the MVP scope — launching with card payments first, adding bank transfers in phase two
Week 3–6: Core Platform Development
Our 5-person team worked in 2-week sprints, delivering working software every iteration:
- Sprint 1: Authentication system with multi-factor auth, merchant onboarding flow
- Sprint 2: Payment processing integration with Stripe Connect, transaction dashboard
- Sprint 3: Compliance reporting, audit logs, and admin panel
- Sprint 4: KYC verification flow, risk scoring engine
Week 7–10: Compliance & Security
With the core platform functional, we focused on hardening:
- Penetration testing and vulnerability remediation
- PSD2 Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) implementation
- GDPR data handling — consent management, data export, right to erasure
- Automated compliance reporting for regulatory submissions
Week 11–12: Launch Preparation
- Load testing to 10x expected initial traffic
- Disaster recovery testing and documentation
- Staff training and knowledge transfer
- Soft launch with 50 beta merchants
The Results
The platform launched on time and within budget. Within the first month of operation:
- 200+ merchants onboarded
- Zero compliance issues flagged during initial regulatory review
- 99.97% uptime since launch
- Average API response time under 200ms
Why It Worked
Three factors made this project successful:
- CET timezone alignment — Daily standups at 9:30 CET worked perfectly for both our Tirana team and the Oslo-based client
- Clear compliance requirements upfront — We invested heavily in week 1–2 discovery, which prevented costly rework later
- Dedicated team model — The same 5 engineers worked on the project from start to finish, building deep domain knowledge in fintech compliance
Technology Stack
“Soatech delivered what our previous agency said would take 9 months — in 3. The team felt like they were sitting in our office in Oslo, not 2,000km away.”