Compliance software for fintechs: SOC 2 and PCI DSS built for small fintech teams
Bank partners and payment processors do not accept "we take security seriously." They ask for SOC 2, PCI DSS scope, and a maintained risk register, and they check. Complies keeps all three current.
Fintech compliance software has to cover two things at once: the frameworks your partners require, usually SOC 2 and PCI DSS, and the due diligence packet a bank or processor will actually read. Complies cross-maps both frameworks into one control set, so the encryption, access control, and logging work you do for SOC 2 counts toward PCI DSS wherever the requirements overlap, and each control shows its framework codes, owner, and live status. The risk register sits alongside it, because bank partner due diligence almost always asks how you identify, score, and treat risk, not just whether a policy PDF exists. Evidence collection runs on a calendar with named owners, which matters in fintech, where quarterly access reviews and key rotation proofs recur forever. Reports export as organized packs a partner's vendor risk team can work through without a call. Prices are published from $79 a month with monthly billing available, so a seed-stage fintech can start the same day a partner sends the due diligence questionnaire, instead of waiting out a sales cycle first.
The heavy lifting is done by risk register software and compliance reporting software, with soc 2 compliance software and pci dss compliance software built in.
Complies assists with compliance workflows. It is not legal advice, and it does not certify you or guarantee audit outcomes. Your auditor decides; Complies gets you ready.
What this looks like from where you sit
Bank partner due diligence is exhaustive
Partner banks and processors send vendor risk questionnaires that go control by control. A thin or stale answer stalls the partnership, and the whole review restarts every year.
SOC 2 and PCI DSS overlap is opaque
Both frameworks demand encryption, access control, and logging, but the mappings are not obvious. Run as two projects, your team proves the same control twice with different paperwork.
Risk needs a register, not a memo
Partners expect a maintained risk register with scored risks, owners, and treatment status. A one-time assessment left over from last year's consultant engagement does not survive questions.
What changes in the first month
One control, both frameworks
Controls carry their SOC 2 criteria and PCI DSS requirements side by side, so work done once is evidenced once and counted in both audits.
A risk register that stays alive
Risks are scored, owned, and tied to controls, with treatment status kept current. When the partner asks about risk management, you share the register, not a memo.
Due diligence packets on demand
Export packs assemble controls, evidence, and policies into the organized bundle a bank's vendor risk team expects, cutting review cycles instead of adding calls.
Recurring proofs that recur themselves
Quarterly access reviews, key rotations, and log checks live on the compliance calendar with named owners, so nothing quietly lapses between annual audits.
Asked by teams like yours
For a fintech under about 200 people, the best compliance software is whichever one covers SOC 2 and PCI DSS in the same control set without a separate quote for each, because that pair is what bank partners and processors actually ask for. Complies cross-maps both from the Growth plan at $199 a month, published, with no sales call. Vanta and Drata are the sales-led alternatives and both are quote-only. Skip enterprise GRC suites at this size; they assume a compliance department you have not hired yet.
Start with whichever one a customer or partner is blocking on, and that is almost always SOC 2. Bank partners and enterprise buyers ask for a SOC 2 report by name during diligence. PCI DSS becomes urgent the moment card data touches your systems, and your merchant level decides how heavy it gets. Doing them together is cheaper than doing them in sequence, because the encryption, access control and logging evidence overlaps substantially.
A licensed CPA firm issues the SOC 2 report, not a software vendor, and that firm bills you separately, typically $5,000 to $20,000 for a Type 1. Several US firms specialize in fintech and understand payment flows without a long briefing. Complies does not run an auditor network and will not pick one for you; what it does is have your evidence, control mappings and risk register organized before the fieldwork starts, which is what shortens the engagement.
Yes. PCI DSS is one of the five frameworks Complies cross-maps, alongside SOC 2, ISO 27001, GDPR, and HIPAA. Controls show their PCI DSS requirements next to their SOC 2 criteria, and evidence is reused wherever both frameworks accept it. Your PCI obligations still depend on your merchant level and how you handle card data, so scope that honestly with your QSA or processor; Complies keeps whatever is in scope tracked and evidenced.
Complies gets you the substance partners look for: mapped controls with owners and status, a maintained risk register, collected evidence, and clean export packs. That is what makes due diligence go quickly. No software can promise a specific partner's decision, and we will not pretend otherwise, but arriving with a current, organized program is the difference between a two-week review and a stalled quarter.
It depends on size. Complies is built for 5 to 200 person companies where compliance is somebody's side job or a team of one. If you hold a banking license or run a large GRC function with hundreds of custom controls, an enterprise suite like OneTrust or AuditBoard is a better fit, and we would rather say that plainly. Many fintechs run Complies right up to the point that scale arrives.
Compliance Risk Assessment: Definition, Matrix, and Workflow
SOC 2SOC 2 Controls List: All 33 CC1 to CC9 Common Criteria
Audit-ready without the hire
Growth covers every framework at $199 a month, billed yearly.