Summary

Banking and payment partners conduct vendor due diligence that requires documented controls Security is mandatory. Beyond that, fintech companies should strongly consider: - Availability — essential if you offer real-time payments, trading, or any service with uptime SLAs

SOC 2 for Fintech: How to Get Certified and What You Need to Know

If you’re building a fintech company, SOC 2 compliance isn’t optional — it’s a competitive necessity. Enterprise customers, banking partners, and payment processors increasingly require a SOC 2 report before signing contracts. Getting certified demonstrates that your platform handles sensitive financial data with the controls, security, and operational rigor that the industry demands.

This guide walks you through exactly how fintech companies get SOC 2 certified, what makes fintech audits unique, and how to accelerate your path to a clean report.

What Is SOC 2 and Why Does Fintech Need It?

SOC 2 (System and Organization Controls 2) is an auditing framework developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). It evaluates whether your organization’s systems and controls meet standards across five Trust Service Criteria (TSC):

Security (required)
Availability
Processing Integrity
Confidentiality
Privacy

For fintech companies — whether you’re building a payments platform, lending software, wealth management tool, or banking infrastructure — SOC 2 matters for several critical reasons:

Enterprise sales cycles often stall without a SOC 2 report in hand
Banking and payment partners conduct vendor due diligence that requires documented controls
Regulatory alignment — SOC 2 overlaps significantly with PCI DSS, GLBA, and state-level financial regulations
Customer trust — users entrust you with sensitive financial and personal data

Most fintech companies pursue SOC 2 Type II, which covers a minimum observation period of six months and carries significantly more weight than a Type I report.

SOC 2 Type I vs. Type II: Which Should Fintech Companies Get?

SOC 2 Type I

A Type I report is a point-in-time assessment. It confirms that your controls are designed appropriately as of a specific date. It’s faster to obtain (typically 1–3 months) and can be useful for early-stage startups trying to unblock initial enterprise deals.

SOC 2 Type II

A Type II report evaluates whether your controls operate effectively over time — typically a 6 to 12-month observation window. This is the gold standard for fintech companies because:

Enterprise and institutional customers almost always require Type II
It demonstrates sustained operational maturity, not just good intentions
It provides stronger evidence for regulatory conversations

Recommendation: If you’re a seed or Series A fintech company, start with Type I to unblock sales, then immediately begin the observation period for Type II.

Step-by-Step: How to Get SOC 2 Certified as a Fintech Company

Step 1: Define Your Scope

Scoping is one of the most consequential decisions in your SOC 2 journey. Your scope defines which systems, services, and data flows will be evaluated.

For fintech companies, scope typically includes:

Core application infrastructure (cloud hosting, databases, APIs)
Payment processing systems and integrations
Customer data storage and access controls
Employee access management and HR systems
Third-party service providers (subprocessors)

Narrowing scope reduces audit complexity and cost, but be careful not to exclude systems that customers care about. A payments company that excludes its transaction processing environment from scope will raise red flags.

Step 2: Select the Right Trust Service Criteria

Security is mandatory. Beyond that, fintech companies should strongly consider:

Processing Integrity — critical for payment processors, lending platforms, and trading systems where transaction accuracy is non-negotiable
Availability — essential if you offer real-time payments, trading, or any service with uptime SLAs
Confidentiality — important when handling non-public financial information
Privacy — relevant if you collect personal financial data and operate under GLBA or CCPA obligations

Step 3: Conduct a Readiness Assessment

Before engaging an auditor, perform an internal gap analysis. Compare your current controls against the SOC 2 criteria and document what’s missing. Common gaps in fintech companies include:

Informal or undocumented access control procedures
Missing vendor risk management processes
Lack of formal incident response plans
Insufficient logging and monitoring coverage
No formal change management process

A readiness assessment typically takes 2–6 weeks and gives you a prioritized remediation roadmap.

Step 4: Implement and Document Controls

This is where the real work happens. You need to build controls and document them thoroughly. Auditors need evidence — policies, procedures, screenshots, logs, and records — not just working systems.

Key control areas for fintech SOC 2:

Access Management: Role-based access control, MFA enforcement, quarterly access reviews
Encryption: Data encrypted at rest and in transit, key management procedures
Vulnerability Management: Regular scanning, penetration testing, patch management timelines
Monitoring and Alerting: SIEM tools, anomaly detection, log retention policies
Business Continuity: Backup procedures, disaster recovery testing, RTO/RPO documentation
Vendor Management: Due diligence questionnaires, contract reviews, subprocessor monitoring

Step 5: Choose a SOC 2 Auditor

Your auditor must be a licensed CPA firm. Not all auditors have fintech experience, and this matters. Look for firms that:

Have audited other fintech or financial services companies
Understand payment processing environments and financial data flows
Can provide references from similar-stage companies

Audit costs for fintech companies typically range from $15,000 to $50,000+ depending on scope, complexity, and auditor reputation.

Step 6: Undergo the Audit

For Type II, your auditor will observe your controls over the agreed observation period. They’ll request evidence samples — typically 25 instances of a control being performed for common controls. Be prepared to provide:

System-generated logs and reports
HR records (background checks, security training completions)
Change management tickets
Incident response records
Vendor assessment documentation

Step 7: Receive Your Report and Address Exceptions

Your auditor will issue a report with an opinion. If controls have exceptions (failures), they’ll be documented. Exceptions aren’t automatically disqualifying, but you’ll want to remediate them quickly and have a plan to address them in your next audit cycle.

Fintech-Specific Considerations for SOC 2

Third-Party Risk Is Heavily Scrutinized

Fintech companies rely on a dense ecosystem of APIs, banking partners, payment rails, and cloud providers. Auditors will want to see that you have a formal vendor risk management program — not just contracts, but ongoing monitoring.

Regulatory Overlap Works in Your Favor

If your fintech is already working toward PCI DSS compliance (required for card data), many of those controls map directly to SOC 2 Security criteria. Similarly, GLBA safeguards requirements overlap significantly with SOC 2 controls. Building a unified control framework saves time and money.

Penetration Testing Is Expected

Most enterprise fintech customers and auditors expect to see annual penetration testing results. Ensure your pen test scope covers your production environment and that you have documented remediation for any findings.

How Long Does SOC 2 Take for a Fintech Company?

Phase	Timeline
Readiness Assessment	2–6 weeks
Remediation & Control Implementation	2–4 months
Type I Audit	4–8 weeks
Type II Observation Period	6–12 months
Type II Audit Fieldwork	4–8 weeks

Total time from start to Type II report: approximately 12–18 months for most fintech companies starting from scratch.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do I need SOC 2 or PCI DSS — or both?

Most fintech companies that handle card payments need both. PCI DSS is specifically required for storing, processing, or transmitting cardholder data. SOC 2 is a broader security and operational assurance framework. They complement each other, and many controls satisfy requirements for both.

Can a startup fintech get SOC 2?

Yes — and many do. SOC 2 is framework-based, not size-based. Early-stage fintechs often pursue SOC 2 Type I first to unblock enterprise sales, then move to Type II as they mature. The key is having documented, repeatable controls — not a large team.

How much does SOC 2 cost for a fintech company?

Expect to budget $20,000–$60,000 for the audit itself, plus internal time and tooling costs. Compliance automation platforms (Vanta, Drata, Secureframe) can reduce preparation time significantly, though they add subscription costs of $10,000–$30,000 per year.

What happens if we fail our SOC 2 audit?

SOC 2 audits don’t technically result in “pass” or “fail.” Instead, auditors issue an opinion with any noted exceptions. A qualified opinion with minor exceptions is manageable — you’ll explain remediation plans to customers. Significant exceptions may require a re-audit or supplemental testing.

How do we maintain SOC 2 after we get it?

SOC 2 requires annual renewal. You’ll need to maintain continuous evidence collection, conduct annual access reviews, perform regular risk assessments, and keep policies updated. Many fintech companies use compliance automation tools to streamline ongoing evidence collection.

Start Your SOC 2 Journey with Ready-to-Use Templates

Building your SOC 2 control library from scratch is one of the most time-consuming parts of the process — but it doesn’t have to be.

Our SOC 2 Compliance Template Bundle for Fintech includes everything you need to accelerate your audit readiness:

✅ Information Security Policy (SOC 2-aligned)
✅ Access Control and User Management Policy
✅ Incident Response Plan
✅ Vendor Risk Management Policy and Assessment Questionnaire
✅ Business Continuity and Disaster Recovery Plan
✅ Change Management Policy
✅ SOC 2 Readiness Gap Assessment Checklist
✅ Evidence Collection Tracker

These templates are written by compliance professionals, pre-mapped to SOC 2 Trust Service Criteria, and ready to customize for your fintech environment. Skip weeks of policy drafting and get audit-ready faster.

[Download the SOC 2 Fintech Template Bundle →]

Trusted by fintech startups and growth-stage companies preparing for their first SOC 2 audit.