Designed a cloud-exclusive technology platform to support a fully licensed bank in less than 12 months
Created a banking infrastructure that complies with regulations, prioritizes security, and ensures resilience, employing a variety of Google products, such as Google Cloud Armor
Built an infrastructure that can scale and meets customer demands using Google Kubernetes Engine
With a vision for a digital bank aligned with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, radicant needed a cloud provider committed to innovation and social responsibility–so it chose Google Cloud.
With a vision for a digital bank aligned with the UN's 17 Sustainable Development Goals, radicant needed a cloud provider committed to innovation and social responsibility–so it chose Google Cloud.
For many people, the pandemic accelerated changes to the way they bank. Without easy access to their local branch, people had to rely on online services. And millions haven’t looked back. The European banking sector has seen the number of digital users increase by 23% since the start of the pandemic. Bank customers can now have their bank in their pocket, on a banking app, which they can access 24/7. The ease with which people can now access banking services has also led to the rise of a major new player in the financial sector: the digital bank.
Digital banks can help customers easily monitor their spending and create workable budgets and rewards for keeping on track. Sustainability is also fast becoming a key issue when people are choosing a bank, as they look to avoid funding fossil fuels. The size of the global sustainable finance market grew by 80% between 2019 and 2020 to $3.2 trillion. Tapping into this fast-growing market is Swiss digital bank radicant.
“Building a bank from scratch is in itself a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. The prospect of leveraging cutting-edge technology and fostering sustainability was incredibly compelling. This is what brought me to radicant,” said Christoph Schwarz, CTO, radicant.
radicant was the pioneering sustainability bank in Switzerland with a full banking license, operating entirely in the cloud, prioritizing sustainable banking and investment offerings. Its mission is clear: to provide a unique digital banking offering and an investment mandate aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals. The bank sought a cloud provider sharing its commitment to innovation and social responsibility, so it chose Google Cloud.
Building a bank from scratch
Building radicant from the ground up using Google Cloud provided a unique opportunity to collect data in a structured and analytical way, allowing radicant to make the entire sustainability approach and services highly transparent.
Christoph Schwarz
CTO, radicant
radicant was formally established in April 2021, and its small team started building the banking platform from scratch on Google Cloud toward the end of 2021. An initial version of the bank was operational about eleven months later, in October 2022. In August 2023, the bank launched its comprehensive suite of banking options.
“Two key components of our infrastructure are BigQuery and Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE). These Google services offer exceptional support for data analytics, as well as provide performance, scalability, and flexibility,” said Schwarz.
“Building radicant from the ground up using Google Cloud provided a unique opportunity to collect data in a structured and analytical way, allowing radicant to make the entire sustainability approach and services highly transparent,” said Schwarz.
The data collected in BigQuery assists the bank's service teams in addressing customer inquiries. radicant also utilizes BigQuery to understand its customers better and make well-informed decisions. "For instance, if we have data indicating a customer is interested in a specific sustainability theme, we can send personalized notifications encouraging them to explore related investment information and topics that create a positive impact," said Schwarz.
radicant currently operates over 35 microservices on GKE. The team leveraged GKE to create a scalable infrastructure that enables the company to adjust its usage to meet traffic peaks and reduce it during slower periods, ensuring they only pay for the resources they require. "It's certainly an environment that works perfectly for us," said Schwarz. "We're pleased with the availability we have and experience minimal downtime."
Putting security first
radicant targets a new generation of clients who increasingly demand sustainable banking and investment options. Being a Swiss bank with a full banking license, credibility, authenticity, and trust are crucial in this domain, which is why radicant chose Google Cloud as its cloud provider. Google Cloud provided ways to address technical and data sovereignty regulations. "Using Google Cloud enables us to show regulators that we have considered and assessed the risks," said Schwarz.
radicant utilizes several Google Cloud tools to enhance the security of its platform, protect against threats like DDoS attacks, and to encrypt data.
Using Google Cloud enables us to show regulators that we have considered and assessed the risks.
Christoph Schwarz
CTO, radicant
Cloud Armor helps radicant protect itself against L7 distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks such as HTTP floods and other high-frequency layer 7 (application-level) malicious activity. Meanwhile, Cloud Storage always encrypts radicant’s data on the server side and manages server-side encryption keys on its behalf. It does this using the same hardened key-management systems that Google Cloud uses for its own encrypted data, including strict key access controls and auditing.
Investing in a sustainable future
Google Cloud allowed us to swiftly deploy a modern, scalable, and secure platform. We are looking forward to using the Google Cloud team’s expertise in personalization and data processing even more in the future.
Christoph Schwarz
CTO, radicant
A strong customer-focused approach is central to radicant’s business model and is at the core of its products, services, and offerings. Google's goal to achieve net-zero carbon emissions across its operations and value chain by 2030 was a crucial factor for the company in selecting a cloud provider.
“I firmly believe that substantial investment is required to address all the problems our society is currently facing. And that's why I believe that banks and investors need to engage with sustainability. Customer demand for that engagement is rising,” said Schwarz.
As radicant grows, it will continue to work with Google Cloud to develop more features and build on its commitment to being a truly sustainable bank.
“Google Cloud allowed us to swiftly deploy a modern, scalable, and secure platform,” said Schwarz. “We are looking forward to using the Google Cloud team’s expertise in personalization and data processing even more in the future.”
radicant bank ag, an entirely cloud-based Swiss bank, with a full banking license, seeks to transform banking by providing a unique digital banking offering, and an investment mandate aligned with the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Industry: Financial Services
Location: Switzerland
Products: Google Cloud, Apigee API Management, BigQuery, Cloud Build, Cloud Run, Cloud Storage, Compute Engine, Firestore, Google Kubernetes Engine
