Wonga transitions to cloud

Wonga, a leading fintech based in South Africa, has embarked on a transformative journey into the cloud with Amazon Web Services (AWS). This strategic move signifies a significant leap forward in Wonga's commitment to driving digital transformation, financial inclusion and operational excellence in the dynamic landscape of the financial industry.

Wonga has since established itself as a key player in the South African market, being locally owned and managed after separating from the Wonga Group in late 2019.  Since operations began in South Africa, Wonga has written over R4 million loans with disbursement more than R12 billion. Upon group separation, the company encountered challenges stemming from its legacy group infrastructure, which posed obstacles to scalability and innovation. Complex legacy applications and escalating on-premises infrastructure costs emerged as critical barriers to Wonga's ability to meet the evolving needs of its customers.

In a recent presentation at Amazon South Africa, Wonga's Chief Technology Officer, Michael Lazarus, underscored the company's motivation for transitioning to the cloud and the pivotal role AWS played in facilitating this paradigm shift. Lazarus emphasised Wonga's unwavering commitment to accelerating its pace of innovation and delivering superior services to its customers:

"Our industry demands agility and innovation. We recognized the imperative of adopting a scalable and agile infrastructure that would enable us to respond swiftly to market dynamics and introduce groundbreaking products and services."

Wonga faced several challenges during the migration process to cloud, one of which was modernising its legacy systems to fully adopt cloud-native architectures. However, despite these challenges, Wonga successfully migrated to the cloud, taking advantage of the comprehensive suite of services and unparalleled expertise provided by AWS. As a result, Wonga experienced minimal disruption to its operations:

"We conducted a thorough evaluation of potential cloud providers and found AWS to be the perfect fit for our needs," explained Lazarus. "Their seamless integration with our software principles and practices, the suite of products, coupled with their robust support and guidance, solidified our decision to partner with AWS."

The benefits of Wonga's migration to the cloud have been substantial. The business has witnessed a significant increase in scalability and operational efficiency, enabling it to respond rapidly to market demands and deliver seamless customer experiences. Real-time release and change management have become the norm, with Wonga now capable of deploying updates swiftly and efficiently, enhancing its competitive edge in the market.

"By embracing cloud, we have not only optimized our operational efficiency but also fortified our security and compliance measures. Furthermore, the insights and best practices gleaned from this migration will enabling us to push the envelope and introduce innovative products to market much faster." Michael Lazarus

Wonga's transition to the cloud with AWS epitomizes its unwavering commitment to leveraging cutting-edge technology to drive business growth and deliver exceptional value to its customers. With a scalable and adaptable  infrastructure now in place, Wonga is poised to redefine the landscape of the financial services industry, setting new benchmarks for innovation and excellence.