Navigating Compliance from Day One

For startups in payments, compliance isn’t optional. 

The Compliance Challenge in Fintech Startups 

Compliance is one of the biggest hurdles fintech startups face. While innovation moves fast, regulations like PSD2, PCI DSS, and AMLD demand rigor and transparency from day one. The question isn’t if you should comply, but how soon and how smartly you can build compliance into your architecture — without sacrificing speed or creativity. 

At OceanoBe, we’ve helped payment providers and banks implement compliance-first architectures that evolve with regulation, not against it. 

1. PSD2: Beyond Open Banking APIs 

The Revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2) redefined how fintechs interact with banks and customers, focusing on security and transparency. 

At a minimum, early-stage payment startups must: 

Implement Strong Customer Authentication (SCA) for transactions. 

Expose secure and standardized APIs for third-party access. 

Ensure auditability of all access and data flows. 

Tech Tip: 

When building PSD2-compliant APIs, developers often rely on OAuth 2.0 + OpenID Connect for secure authorization. 

// Example: 

 1 Node.js snippet for OAuth2 Authorization Code flow 
 2 app.get('/authorize', (req, res) => { 
 3   const redirectUri = `${OAUTH_SERVER}/authorize?response_type=code&client_id=${CLIENT_ID}&redirect_uri=${CALLBACK_URL}&scope=payments`; 
 4   res.redirect(redirectUri); 
 5 }); 

The goal isn’t just to expose endpoints — it’s to design trust into your ecosystem. 

2. PCI DSS: Securing Cardholder Data Early 

If your product touches cardholder data in any way, PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard) applies — even at MVP stage. 

Startups often underestimate how early PCI obligations kick in. Storing, processing, or even transmitting card data requires compliance, and failure to comply can mean loss of merchant partnerships or hefty fines. 

Lean Approach: 

Use tokenization to replace sensitive card data with non-sensitive identifiers. 

Outsource storage to PCI Level 1–certified gateways like Stripe, Adyen, or Braintree. 

Implement end-to-end encryption for payment data streams. 

Example: a minimal PCI-aware architecture might look like this: 

[Frontend] --> [Tokenization Service] --> [Payment Gateway] --> [Bank Network]  

This setup keeps your app out of PCI scope as much as possible, reducing compliance overhead. 

3. AML, GDPR, and the ‘Beyond’ Layer 

As your product scales, additional regulations like AML (Anti-Money Laundering), GDPR, and EBA guidelines come into play. 

Each impacts your backend differently: 

AML demands real-time monitoring and customer identity checks. 

GDPR shapes how you store and delete personal data. 

EBA guidelines influence your API documentation, data retention, and risk assessment processes. 

OceanoBe engineers often integrate KYC/AML microservices that validate customer data asynchronously, ensuring regulatory checks happen in parallel — not as blockers. 

// Example: Async KYC verification in a microservice 

 1 CompletableFuture response = kycService.verifyUserAsync(userId); 
 2 response.thenAccept(result -> auditService.logVerification(result)); 

This approach lets teams stay compliant and agile. 

4. Compliance by Design: Embedding It into Your CI/CD 

At OceanoBe, our teams integrate compliance verification directly into the CI/CD pipeline. Each build runs automated scans for: 

API security and encryption consistency 

Dependency vulnerabilities (using tools like OWASP Dependency Check or Snyk) 

Data protection rules (for GDPR and PCI DSS alignment) 

Compliance becomes part of the code review, not an afterthought. 

5. Partnering for Compliance Efficiency 

A good technical partner doesn’t just implement features — they translate regulations into code. 

Working with experienced fintech developers can help startups: 

Identify regulatory priorities for each growth stage 

Automate compliance controls 

Build modular, auditable systems ready for certification 

In payments, speed matters — but trust and compliance are what keep you in business. 

Move Fast, Stay Compliant 

The path to a compliant fintech product isn’t about adding bureaucracy. It’s about engineering excellence with foresight. When compliance is embedded from day one, startups can scale faster, partner confidently, and focus on what really matters — innovation.