How Discount Bank scaled to handle 200% more traffic with Google Cloud

March 2020

Israeli bank meets strict security standards while scaling PayBox app to 1.5 million users

200%: more traffic handled
200%: more traffic handled during peaks
1.5M: users (from 120K)

“We use BigQuery to monitor all our operations. That means handling large volumes of data, as each transaction generates hundreds of log lines. We've been amazed at how fast BigQuery can generate reports: it's a truly great product.”
Guy Tobul
Dev Team Leader

The Challenge

Discount Bank needed to gain Bank of Israel consent to operate PayBox workloads in the cloud while meeting strict banking security requirements. The acquired startup app needed enterprise-grade security features without losing its agility and innovation capabilities.

The Solution

Working with DoiT International, Discount Bank implemented two-step authentication, SSL certification, and database encryption using Key Management Service with Google Kubernetes Engine. They used Compute Engine for regulatory snapshots, BigQuery for transaction monitoring, and GKE for continuous deployment and automatic scaling.

Results

Gained Bank of Israel approval to operate PayBox in the cloud
Grew user base from 120,000 to over 1.5 million users
Achieved 4.8 out of 5 rating on Google Play
Successfully handles 200% traffic spikes during peak periods
Deployed new code daily with continuous deployment model

Meeting Banking Security Requirements

Making sure an application is robust and secure is key for any enterprise, but especially when large numbers of transactions are involved. Working with DoiT International, the PayBox team implemented two-step authentication for logins, SSL certification, and database encryption for sensitive data using Key Management Service with Google Kubernetes Engine. These features bring PayBox in line with the broader Discount Bank security ecosystem. The persistent disk snapshot function on Compute Engine helps meet regulatory requirements by creating snapshots of all transactions every 15 minutes and keeping records for seven years.

Achieving Easy Deployment and Scaling

To keep its application up-to-date, PayBox uses a continuous deployment model on GKE, so new code is deployed every day. As its infrastructure deploys multiple pods in parallel, it is easy to isolate any issues that might occur. GKE scales automatically to meet the peaks in demand that PayBox experiences. Traffic varies over the week, since nights and weekends are much quieter, and seasonal peaks occur around holidays and the beginning of the academic year. A peak might mean 200% more traffic, but with GKE, they can easily handle the extra traffic.

Monitoring with BigQuery

PayBox uses BigQuery to monitor the service it provides by analyzing log data. This means handling large volumes of data, as each transaction generates hundreds of log lines. The team has been amazed at how fast BigQuery can generate reports from this massive dataset. To keep important documentation and information in one place, the PayBox team uses G Suite services including Gmail and Drive to share PayBox-related documents.

Growing Through Partnerships

Since acquiring PayBox's operations in Israel, Discount Bank has successfully gained permission to run PayBox as part of the bank and grown its user base significantly from 120,000 to more than 1.5 million users. User satisfaction with the PayBox app is high, with a rating of 4.8 out of 5 for the Android App on Google Play. The bank is now extending functionality through partnerships with major enterprises, including enabling users to top up their Rav-Kav electronic transport cards through the app.

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Story overview

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