The AWS Cloud Foundations for Schuman Financial, a Cross-Border Payments Platform
From a single non-autoscaled EC2 instance to a secure, AWS foundation – delivered in 5 weeks for a licensed EMI launch.
Client
Schuman Financial
Industry
Regulated fintech / EMI
Environment
Amazon Web Services
Challenge
Production-first greenfield cloud foundation delivery
Timeline
5 weeks
The Client
Schuman Financial
Schuman Financial is a euro stablecoin issuer, infrastructure, and payment company. With an EMI license in France, Schuman provides a stablecoin technology platform and institutional-grade infrastructure that includes full API automation, instant 24/7 conversion between stablecoins and euros, named IBANs, 24/7 on-chain FX, and free, instant payments worldwide.
Schuman approached Plectrum on a recommendation while preparing to launch a new cross-border payments platform – the product vision was moving forward, but the infrastructure underneath needed a rebuild.
The Challenge
Fragile by Default
Partial IaC
Infrastructure as code covered less than half of the platform’s actual footprint.
Single Point of Failure
Workloads were effectively relying on a single, non-autoscaled EC2 instance.
Incomplete CI/CD
Pipelines were incomplete and still dependent on manual steps.
Stale Images
Container delivery relied on the latest tag, creating stale image and caching issues.
The Delivery
In Numbers
0
Weeks to a working AWS foundation.
> 20
AWS accounts structured under a secure multi-account model.
> 15
Services moved to ECS on Fargate.
~ 100%
Of infrastructure managed as code.
In Technology
Amazon Web Services
Terraform
GitHub
AWS ECS
AWS RDS (PostgreSQL)
AWS CloudWatch
In Detail
Production First
Started with production to get the client onto a secure, scalable footing within the launch window, then rolled the same blueprint into development.
Well-Architected by Design
Built in line with the AWS Well-Architected Framework, with a focus on security, reliability, and operational excellence for a regulated fintech.
Remove Risk, Not Add Complexity
Replaced fragile infrastructure with a foundation the client could actually build on, operate, and grow with.
Infrastructure & Environments
- Multi-account AWS architecture using AWS Organizations and environment separation
- Production and development built from the same repeatable Terraform blueprint
- >20 AWS accounts structured under a secure multi-account model
Application Platform
- Migration from a fragile single-instance setup to Amazon ECS on Fargate for all services
- >15 services moved to ECS on Fargate
- Immutable image versioning via AWS ECR, replacing latest tags with traceable artifacts
Network & Edge Security
- Application Load Balancers with proper ACM-managed certificates
- AWS WAF protection across public endpoints
- >10 public endpoints protected
Data & Secrets
- Managed PostgreSQL on Amazon RDS
- Centralized configuration and secrets via AWS Secrets Manager and Parameter Store
- >10 repositories standardized, including 2 newly created Terraform repositories
Delivery & Observability
- GitHub Actions CI/CD using OIDC instead of long-lived cloud credentials
- CloudWatch-based logging, monitoring, and alerting
- Security guardrails for day-to-day operations and visibility
Handover
- Detailed documentation of the solution, infrastructure code, and Terraform modules
- Engineering-wide handover as part of the engagement
- A clear operating model the internal team could work with after handover
The Outcome
From a Single Instance to a Production-Ready Payments Foundation
Within 5 weeks, Schuman Financial had a AWS environment built from scratch, followed by a development environment based on the same design. The single-instance bottleneck was removed, and the platform gained a much stronger baseline for scalability, resilience, and security.
Speed
Build and deployment dropped from mostly manual to a 3-minute average per environment.
Audit
GitHub Actions CI/CD runs on OIDC instead of long-lived credentials, with ECR giving every deployment a traceable, immutable image.
Focus
Developers handle more day-to-day configuration safely, so the product team can focus on shipping.
Trust
A foundation designed around the AWS Well-Architected Framework, built for a regulated EMI.
The Client Reference
“Plectrum Engineering, due to their high level of experience, dedication and professional attitude, delivered results in very short time and at very high-quality level.”
