Hypothekarbank Lenzburg chooses Green data center for its banking platform
The company
Hypothekarbank Lenzburg AG is one of the most digital banks in Switzerland and has won several awards for its digital excellence. The centerpiece of its digital solution is its Finstar platform – a modern core banking solution with an open interface architecture. As part of Hypothekarbank Lenzburg’s open banking strategy, this platform is also made available to other banks and fintechs, such as neon, Kaspar&, and findependent. The platform is developed and operated by Finstar AG, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hypothekarbank Lenzburg.
On course for success: from 5,000 to 150,000 transactions per day
Hypothekarbank “Hypi” Lenzburg is an extremely successful and innovative regional bank that was quick to develop core banking software to guarantee reliable processes and regulatory compliance. As part of its open banking strategy, Hypi opened up its core banking system in 2017, offering it to other banks and financial service providers via interfaces. With great success: today, Finstar processes 150,000 transactions per day. Opening up the software has revolutionized the banking landscape by making the entire technology stack available to banks and financial service providers.
How the data center move went:
A whole new level of data security
The Finstar platform servers had always been located in Hypi’s in-house data centers. But by 2023, this solution was no longer enough to meet the bank’s requirements. A new data center architecture was therefore developed. “Today, we need highly available systems with better reliability,” says Finstar Co-CEO Daniel Monras. His team evaluated potential data centers that could be used in conjunction with the bank’s existing data center to offer maximum security through a combination of physical security, access protection, and redundant systems for cooling and power supply. They ultimately opted for Green, the leading Swiss provider with a total of six modern data centers.
“The new solution with Green makes our system much more stable. This benefits both our customers and our customers’ customers,” says Daniel Monras, CEO of Finstar |
A dedicated data center for the financial industry
With its glass and metal architecture, Green’s data center on the outskirts of Zurich looks like a futuristic Fort Knox of the Swiss IT industry. But instead of gold, it is data that is stored here. Most of the building is not visible from the outside. This is because it is located underground – all four stories of it!
Since autumn 2023, one of Hypothekarbank Lenzburg’s two data centers needed to operate the Finstar open banking platform has been located here. The hardware is still owned by the bank and operated by Finstar employees. To guarantee uninterrupted operation, Green provides state-of-the-art data center infrastructure that meets the high demands of a modern bank.
Aside from IT service providers, the data center is home to numerous companies from the financial industry and tech sector. It has been specially designed to meet the high requirements of these customers. With internationally recognized certifications, a redundant power supply, and an independently secured cooling infrastructure, the data center has an impressive carbon footprint. It is the first data center in Switzerland to have utilized district cooling and waste heat recovery right from day one. |
A solution that sets new standards
The cage in Green’s Zurich City data center and the data center on the bank’s premises were networked via a path-redundant dark fiber connection. This allows the two locations to process data simultaneously. In an emergency, however, each data center is also capable of handling the entire load on its own. The primary goal of the new data center architecture is clear: “We want to guarantee high availability of the Finstar system for all our customers,” says Monras.
Scope of service
Green evaluated suitable housing based on the customer’s needs and designed the relevant networking solution, which was implemented redundantly. Two dark fiber connections, of exactly the same length, were routed independently of each other.
Scope of service:
- Cage in the Green data center with path-redundant dark fiber connection from Schlieren to the second location
- Redundant internet access
- Fit-out of the cage with cold aisle, racks, and PDUs, including access systems
- Implementation of cabling and cross-connects
- Individual reporting for bank-compliant operation
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