“It would take months of research into new regions to see what independent businesses are there and add that information to our database. That’s now an AI-assisted, automated process that pulls data from Google Places, while Vertex AI adds components and checkpoints to validate our merchant matches and ensure the results are accurate,” explains Daniel Acosta, Head of Technology at Snowdrop. 

Previously, Snowdrop required 90 days to manually ingest the necessary information to support new clients in new regions. Now, it can have the necessary data ready for launch within a couple of weeks, with 40% improved accuracy. “Google Maps has the most comprehensive point-of-interest database in the world, so taking advantage of it alongside Google Cloud AI means we have highly localized, relevant information to improve our merchant reconciliation scope worldwide,” says Acosta. 

At the same time, Cloud Service Mesh reduces the operational burden of deploying the MRS API across regions and servers, freeing up Snowdrop’s team from managing infrastructure while ensuring a faster deployment in new markets. As a result of a faster onboarding process, the business has continually scaled since migration. Previously, it processed an average of 20 million transactions a day. That number is now closer to 1.47 billion and counting. The company’s recent launch in the Google Cloud Marketplace is attracting attention from even more potential clients.  

Meanwhile, Google Kubernetes Engine provides an automated way to manage workloads and ensure cost-efficiency by scaling resources up and down as needed. “Google Kubernetes Engine promptly accommodates the increasing volume of transactions we’re processing, and our clients are impressed by the speed and accuracy of results they’re receiving. We’re a small team dealing with very large clients, but by leaning on Google Cloud, we have the scalability to do that,” adds Acosta. 

Snowdrop is also looking to use Gemini to generate embeddings across its broad spectrum of transactions and merchants’ data. In simple terms, each merchant might enable transactions across multiple touchpoints (such as online and in-person POS systems), and these transactions can appear differently in bank statements because they go through different payment providers’ systems. Because all this information is unified in Snowdrop’s Google Cloud infrastructure, the company can use Gemini to map it out and find similarities to associate transactions with their correct merchants more easily, quickly, and accurately.  

Finally, as a member of the Google Cloud Partner Advantage Training Program, Snowdrop ensures that its employees flourish along with the company. Aside from achieving business certifications, such as ISO27001, the partnership enables team members to become Google Cloud-certified and evolve their careers with direct support from the Google Cloud team.