Introducing Qolo’s 100% Cloud-Native Platform: An Industry First

An omnichannel platform with more firepower, scalability, and security to payments

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There’s no room for waiting in the fast-paced digital world, especially when it comes to payments.

In the era of instant access, organizations must have the capability to execute operations seamlessly and faster than ever, as the global market has elevated to a new standard for conducting business.

Now, more than ever, is the time to future-proof your business by ensuring that operations are agile and adaptable for the new economy. An important first step is being prepared for the transition to the cloud.

As a host to the data that underlies and fuels modern business innovation, cloud technology has emerged as an effective and sustainable tool to simplify and accelerate the once-lengthy processes that accompanied the configuration of payments systems to cater to a growing global market. What once required months of planning can now be accomplished in mere seconds, thanks to the capacity afforded by this new development.

With a next-generation payments processing system, Qolo has utilized the power of cloud technology to power transactions on a global scale. As the first 100% cloud-based issuing processor in the industry, we’ve done what no other company has: pioneered a high-performance payments platform for the new economy that is easily scalable, portable, reliable, and secure.  

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Let us walk you through it.

Scalability

Host security modules (HSMs) are a critical component in any payments infrastructure, serving

to provide high-performance cryptographic services for enterprise applications and ensure data integrity for critical business processes. HSMs unlock a breadth of functionality and with an added layer of security, from generating and storing keys to providing signing and encryption algorithms.

Typically, HSMs depend on physical hardware, leaving payment processors reliant on data centers to store these heavy, expensive machinery that are costly to procure, maintain, and very difficult to scale. It takes months for these systems to be deployed, and processors then incur a 60-millisecond delay for any transaction.

But, at Qolo, we understand the importance that payment processing doesn’t (and shouldn’t) be so difficult.

So, we developed an entirely virtual version of an HSM, fully based in the cloud. This advent cuts costs significantly, eliminating the need for hardware. More importantly, it cuts down transaction times from 60 milliseconds to one millisecond per transaction.

Portability

For companies seeking to license and control their own platform, Qolo’s cloud-native platform can be the perfect fit. Whereas typically, licensing a platform could take an average of four months, we can create an entirely new instance of our platform for you in up to four hours (or less, depending on what your requirements are).

“Previous payments platform licensing options were hardware-based and took months, if not years, to provision and roll out,” said Qolo CEO Patricia Montesi. “We can roll out a new instance in less than a day. While others in the industry can talk about being in the cloud, Qolo is the first to be truly cloud native. This brings unique performance, scale, and deployment advantages.”

In a world so interconnected where borders have become blurred, it is essential for businesses to ensure that they can cater to a global audience. However, with payments, it has been difficult to find a one-size-fits-all solution that accounts for different regional restrictions and regulations.

When dealing with data from any region, there is a unique set of standards that organizations had to adhere to in the setup of data centers, requiring specialization in a range of sectors to procure the hardware, talent, and facilities necessary for execution. Qolo’s cloud-native platform simplifies the process, with the global infrastructure in place to adhere to regional standards and enable a frictionless path to operations anywhere in the world.

Reliability

Data servers were once backed by physical hardware, and for larger operations, companies would have to manage anywhere from 100-1,000 physical servers. Keeping these servers up to date with the latest security measures and patches was an extensive process, leaving many servers susceptible to breaches and attacks without constant upkeep.

Within a cloud-native structure, however, patches and updates can be rolled out instantly and remotely, diminishing risk and ensuring reliability with much greater ease than ever before.  

Moreover, it is a relatively easier exercise to deliver more firepower when managing payment systems in this manner. If an operation requires more central processing unit (CPU) power, it can easily be achievable from any remote location at a moment's notice.

Performance

Aside from offering an entirely cloud-based HSM, Qolo also processes data using, what is known as, hot-hot deployment to mitigate system downtime risk as well as increase firepower when required.

When it comes to payment processing, most industry players continue to store, process, and transfer data on a primary server and copy that information on a secondary failover server just in case the primary one goes down. This practice is known as a failover configuration.

Although the practice does mitigate system interruptions, it cannot provide higher processing power when a sudden demand emerges in the system, increasing the risk of latency and downtime issues.

To address this, we built our native-cloud platform using a hot-hot deployment approach. It allows two (or even more) servers to receive, send, and store transactional information simultaneously. The data is monitored and directed efficiently to ensure optimal system performance.

As an omnichannel payments platform, Qolo is the first in the industry to develop and deploy its own cloud-native HSM and comprehensive platform to provide fintechs with the tools they need to innovate for the future.

While other industry players claim to be fully cloud-based, Qolo is the only company to do it all in-house -- helping you scale your business every step of the way.  

Demand More. Find out how Qolo can help future-proof your business.

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