Fintech leader SumUp modernizes cloud infrastructure without disruption to enterprise agreements

SumUp isn’t just a fintech company—they’re building the backbone for modern commerce around the world. In the midst of transforming their global infrastructure and launching new product lines across payments, POS, and business banking, they needed cloud operations that could keep pace with their ambition.

But traditional long-term savings plans didn’t fit. Migrating infrastructure, expanding regionally, and releasing features at scale requires flexibility—not rigid multi-year contracts or manual cost management.

"Cloud providers don't make it easy to consume discounts. Three-year reservations just aren’t viable for us when we’re in the middle of modernizing our infrastructure."

With North.Cloud, SumUp was able to accelerate its infrastructure modernization, launch next-generation features like Tap to Pay and Business Account Plus without having to worry about cloud costs, and maintain complete agility across its platform, all while embedding intelligent cost control into the foundation.

1. Traditional savings plans didn’t fit a fast-changing infrastructure

SumUp’s infrastructure wasn’t standing still. The team was in the middle of a large-scale migration—moving away from legacy systems and into a modern, more scalable cloud environment. At the same time, the business was expanding across regions and launching offerings like Tap to Pay, POS Plus, and new business account tools.

But traditional savings models from cloud providers weren’t built for companies in motion. Committing to long-term reservations, often for one to three years, might unlock discounts, but it came at the cost of agility.

"We’re in a pivotal moment: moving from an old infrastructure to a new one. Committing to 3-year reservations would limit our ability to scale, evolve, and make decisions on the fly."

Even shorter-term options, like 1-year reserved instances, didn’t deliver enough value to justify locking in. The risk was too high, the payoff too low, especially for a business constantly scaling, iterating, and evolving.

SumUp needed savings, but not at the expense of flexibility.

2. Internal cost management was time-consuming and limited

Without a flexible savings solution in place, cloud cost optimization at SumUp became manual and operationally heavy. Every decision about reservations or savings plans required hands-on involvement from Primoz himself, a VP of Engineering with bigger things to focus on.

"I used to be involved in every negotiation for reservations. It wasn’t scalable or a good use of my time."

They explored other third-party tools, but most came with a catch. Many required SumUp to fully switch their enterprise agreements, move support to another provider, or change how their cloud infrastructure was managed. That simply wasn’t viable.

"We looked at other solutions, but most would’ve required us to cancel our existing deal with AWS and migrate over completely. That just wasn’t an option for us."

SumUp needed a solution that fit seamlessly into their existing cloud strategy. North.Cloud delivered real flexibility and automation, powered by Arctic, our dynamic commitment engine.

Arctic delivers them:

• Predictable savings without the lock-in or overhead of RIs
• Automation that adapts as workloads shift, without manual intervention
• One consolidated invoice with savings baked in

Here’s what stood out to them about working with North.Cloud:

• Flexibility without disruption: "You’re different. You target the part of our infrastructure that matters most—without forcing us to change how we work with AWS."
• Easy to use, easy to manage: "Setup was super simple. We added our accounts, and that was it. Now I just get one extra invoice and the savings happen automatically."
• Time back for engineering leadership: "I’ve completely offloaded this to my SRE team. They check in maybe once a month, look for new opportunities, and that’s it."
• Responsive, human support when it matters: "Every time we have an issue or a question, somebody’s answering almost immediately."

With North.Cloud, SumUp gained more than savings. They gained the ability to operate globally and modernize faster without being held back by the complexity of cloud finance.

North.Cloud came recommended through a trusted connection and delivered exactly what they were looking for: real flexibility, fast results, and zero disruption.

1. Global modernization with built-in flexibility

North.Cloud helped SumUp navigate their cloud transformation without the rigidity of traditional reservations. The team was able to adopt a more dynamic, scalable infrastructure while still benefiting from reserved pricing.

2. More engineering time, less procurement pain

The decision-making burden was removed from executive leadership and embedded into monthly workflows for the SRE team. North.Cloud didn’t just optimize spend—it let engineers focus on building.

"It’s more dynamic than AWS native tools. But it’s expected, and it’s something we can actually do."

3. A foundation for long-term cost control

SumUp realized strong percentage-based savings compared to cloud provider-native pricing models, without giving up operational agility. 

"We’re saving enough that it’s equivalent to the cost of hiring another engineer. It’s a metaphor, of course—but the savings are real and tangible, even if they just go back into the broader business."

Instead of managing spend reactively, they’re now set up to scale with confidence.

"It just keeps us tidy. We're always chasing efficiency, and this helps us do that."

As SumUp completes its infrastructure migration, their focus is on building a cloud strategy that can scale with their business, across regions, teams, and evolving needs.

"North.Cloud is helping us get the right reservations and savings plans in place as we stabilize our infrastructure. And down the line, we’ll look at extending this strategy even further."