Atom Bank: Leveraging Google Cloud to Revolutionize Digital Banking

Atom bank is the UK’s first app-based bank, launched in 2016. It has quickly gained popularity due to its focus on providing a simpler experience for its customers, while offering extremely competitive rates. Atom bank uses technology to cut down on the overheads of more traditional banks and provide a slick, smooth service that you’d get from the best mobile apps. The bank's success is also attributed to its consumer-friendly lending and saving policies. As a “challenger bank”, Atom bank competes against much more established competitors with vast resources, and hence, has to carefully decide how to spend its time, effort, and money on improving the offering.

Atom bank, the UK’s first app-based bank, was facing challenges with its existing infrastructure which was slowing growth and limiting the bank’s agility. As the bank attracted more customers and wanted to offer more products, it began to feel the need for a more robust and flexible infrastructure. Initially, due to regulatory constraints, Atom bank had partnered with a third-party to host its infrastructure in an on-premises data center. However, as regulations evolved to accommodate cloud computing, Atom bank began searching for an alternative infrastructure. The bank needed a solution that would ensure speed and reliability even as it gained more customers and added more services. It also needed to be cost-effective and agile, allowing the bank to start new projects or launch new environments without having to invest in new hardware every time.

Atom bank chose Google Cloud as its cloud provider for its technical capabilities, level of service, and competitive pricing. The bank began its modernization journey in 2019, planning the project in two phases. The first phase involved moving the network middleware onto the cloud, and the second phase involved redesigning the core banking stack for a microservices-based architecture utilizing a variety of in-house and external systems fit for the cloud. Atom bank moved its digital mortgages website to Google Cloud as a low-stakes way of learning how to work with the new technology. The bank then rebuilt and redesigned much of its stack in the cloud, hiring a team of DevOps engineers and recreating the middleware for the core banking elements on Google Cloud. Atom bank also used Vault, a cloud-native platform designed specifically for banks by Thought Machine, a Google Cloud Premier Partner, for its core banking services. The bank also designed areas such as a new monitoring and notifications system for its infrastructure and redesigned its data architecture.

• With Google Cloud, Atom bank was able to build a brand new cloud-based banking stack designed for security, scalability, and a seamless customer experience. The bank was able to increase speed and lower latency on the app, improve customer experience with enhanced infrastructure control, and quickly respond to any technical issues. The bank also developed a culture of enhanced agility. The transition to Google Cloud also allowed Atom bank to bring in changes like real-time data streaming and dramatically improve development times, with same-day production changes. This has made the bank much more agile as an enterprise, and it can focus on the things that really matter for its customers. The bank was also able to launch a brand new Instant Saver account which was well-received by customers.

• Cut environments lead time by up to 98%

• Reduced the time to set up a new development environment from 42 weeks to just one week

• Improved app store ratings