The Challenge

As Zolve expanded its digital banking platform, the company needed to proactively ensure continuous compliance and protection against sophisticated cyber threats targeting financial institutions.

Key challenges included:

• Meeting SOC 2 Type 2 control expectation and third-party assessment requirements from partner banks 
• Protecting personally identifiable information (PII) and payment data at scale
• Keeping pace with rapid release cycles without compromising on security depth
• Mitigating advanced API and cloud vulnerabilities in a complex fintech stack
• Preserving customer confidence and regulatory trust while scaling globally

As Zolve’s pace of innovation accelerated, the company sought to enhance its already robust security validation with a more adaptive, continuous, and intelligence-driven approach

The Solutions

AppSecure collaborated with Zolve to implement a Continuous Penetration Testing model that seamlessly integrated with its agile development environment. The engagement combined research-driven manual testing with contextual vulnerability analysis, focusing on impact over volume.

Together, AppSecure and Zolve’s approach delivered:

• Monthly release aligned assessments simulating a real-world attack scenario
• Business logic testing beyond automation to uncover fintech-specific risks
• End-to-end coverage across APIs, mobile, web, and cloud infrastructure
• Collaborative threat modeling with Zolve’s engineers to detect risks early
• Actionable reporting prioritizing high-impact vulnerabilities for faster remediation

This model ensured every production deployment was validated for both security and compliance without slowing development velocity.

Strengthening Security Posture

Building on Zolve’s strong existing security controls, the partnership with AppSecure provided deeper validation and continuous assurance across its infrastructure. Each finding was clear, reproducible, and prioritized by impact, giving engineers a structured roadmap for efficient remediation. This strengthened Zolve’s overall resilience and optimized authorization checks and access controls.

Embedding Security into Development

The partnership strengthened and expanded Zolve’s secure development lifecycle, embedding security more deeply across every stage. AppSecure’s direct collaboration with Zolve ensured security was built into every stage from design to release.

• Early visibility into emerging threats improved feature-level risk control
• Secure coding practices and peer review discipline strengthened the SDLC
• Guided improvements in firewall configurations, cloud monitoring, and defensive mechanisms enhanced long-term resilience

Zolve’s engineering culture further embraced continuous security as a natural extension of its agile processes, reinforcing its proactive posture.

Compliance Without Compromise

AppSecure’s detailed assessments complemented Zolve’s compliance framework, providing added depth and clarity across audit cycles. The testing and documentation supported:

• SOC2 Type 2 audit readiness and ongoing maintenance across audit cycles
• Third-party risk evaluation by major banking partners
• Regulatory audit readiness with zero pushbacks from reviewers or clients

Every report delivered by AppSecure carried credibility and precision, enabling Zolve to demonstrate due diligence and technical assurance to stakeholders across regions.

Measurable Outcomes

Through this partnership, Zolve achieved measurable and sustained improvements:

• 100% of production releases are security-validated before deployment 
• Consistent SOC 2 Type 2 audit readiness, supported by continuous validation and evidence generation
• Significant reduction in recurring vulnerabilities and misconfigurations
• Improved API security hygiene and application resilience
• Seamless compliance reviews with partner banks and auditors
• Zero false positives or audit pushbacks

The engagement enhanced operational efficiency, enabling Zolve to accelerate innovation while sustaining rigorous security assurance across every release

A Trusted Security Partner

Zolve’s collaboration with AppSecure demonstrates how continuous, human-led penetration testing can help fintech companies achieve compliance, scalability, and security maturity in tandem. Through structured testing, actionable insights, and deep collaboration, AppSecure enabled Zolve to scale fast and stay secure.