From Pen Test to SOC 2 Audit: How YELL Payment Built a Security Program Its Bank Partner Can Trust

Introduction

Its mission is to help money move with more speed, flexibility, and control between people and merchants, so everyday payments can better keep up with modern life.

Through its mobile-first platform, YELL brings linked credit cards, bank accounts, and debit cards into one unified wallet experience, giving consumers a clearer view of their available financial picture in one place. For merchants, YELL is designed to support flexible payment acceptance within the same ecosystem, including the ability to accept eligible YELL payments at a 1.5% transaction fee. Funds are available instantly when both the customer and the merchant use the YELL app to initiate and receive payment.

Since launching, YELL has reported strong early consumer adoption, including crossing 5,000 customers within its first 90 days, and as of June 2026, has over 60,000 sign-ups. But growth in fintech also brings higher expectations: a broader security environment to protect, increased regulatory scrutiny, and a banking partner that requires rigorous annual security validation.

To strengthen its security and compliance program, YELL partnered with GRSee Consulting for both penetration testing and SOC 2 audit support.

The Need: Security Testing Wasn't Optional, It Was Mission-Critical

For fintechs operating under a bank sponsor model, security isn't just best practice. It's a condition of the partnership.

YELL's banking services are provided by an FDIC-insured banking partner, which requires annual penetration testing requirements. On top of that, the company was pursuing SOC 2, a critical milestone for enterprise sales, partner trust, and long-term credibility in the market. With YELL's product complexity growing (wallet features, card issuance, KYC, third-party integrations), the window to proactively address security gaps was narrow.

The business drivers were clear:

• Annual penetration testing is mandated by their sponsor bank
• SOC 2 report as a strategic priority for enterprise and partner growth
• A rapidly expanding product surface across multiple integrated vendors
• Growing regulatory and market scrutiny on fintech cybersecurity
• Enterprise sales cycles where security posture is a dealbreaker

Any undetected vulnerability, in an API, an authentication flow, or a cloud configuration, carries real consequences: regulatory exposure, damage to the banking relationship, or loss of customer trust.

The Partnership: One Trusted Partner for Both Security Testing and Audit

After evaluating options, YELL selected GRSee Consulting to lead both their annual penetration test and their SOC 2 audit. That decision reflects something important: when a company trusts the same firm to both test their security and certify their compliance program, it signals a depth of confidence that goes beyond a transactional vendor relationship.

GRSee brought a rare combination to the table, technical security expertise and audit-grade compliance knowledge, operating as one unified team rather than two disconnected engagements.

The scope of work included:

• Comprehensive penetration testing across application, API, and infrastructure layers
• Risk-ranked vulnerability findings with real business context
• Clear, actionable remediation guidance, not just a report of findings
• White-glove support through the full remediation cycle
• SOC 2 audit from evidence collection through to certification
• Executive-ready reporting structured for board, leadership, and partner visibility

The engagement was collaborative from day one, with a strong communication cadence across YELL's engineering, compliance, and product teams.

Challenges: Complex Architecture, Tight Timelines, High Stakes

YELL's infrastructure isn't simple. The platform integrates with multiple specialized vendors across KYC, card issuance, payment processing, and cloud services. Running a comprehensive security test across that ecosystem, while simultaneously managing an active SOC 2 audit, required a partner who could operate across both technical and organizational complexity without losing momentum.

The main challenges:

• A multi-vendor architecture spanning issuing, KYC, payments, and cloud infrastructure
• Running penetration testing and SOC 2 audit in parallel, with shared timelines and stakeholders
• Cross-functional coordination needs across engineering, compliance, and product
• The need for prioritized, actionable guidance, not a generic findings report

How GRSee addressed them:

GRSee ran a structured, layered testing approach that addressed each part of YELL's environment both independently and holistically. Every vulnerability was risk-ranked with business context, so teams knew exactly where to focus first. Technical findings were translated into remediation steps that both engineers and compliance stakeholders could act on. And because GRSee was managing both the pen test and the SOC 2 audit, nothing fell through the cracks; security findings and compliance evidence stayed in sync throughout the engagement.

Throughout it all, GRSee maintained responsive, consistent communication, adapting to changing timelines without losing momentum.

Outcomes: A Stronger Security Posture and a SOC 2 Report to Show for It

What started as an annual requirement and a compliance milestone became something more durable, a repeatable, institutionalized security program that YELL can carry into every future audit cycle, major release, and enterprise conversation.

Key outcomes:

• All identified critical and high-severity vulnerabilities were remediated before audit
• Annual penetration test completed in full alignment with the sponsor bank requirements
• SOC 2 report achieved
• Strengthened security posture across application, API, and infrastructure layers
• Improved cross-functional efficiency between compliance and engineering

Business impact:

• Increased confidence from Bangor Savings Bank and other key partners
• Stronger enterprise sales position, with a SOC 2 report and auditable pen test results to back it up
• Reduced regulatory and operational risk exposure
• Elevated internal security awareness and process maturity
• A clear framework for ongoing annual testing tied to product release cycles

Conclusion: One Partner. Two Critical Milestones. Zero Gaps.

YELL Payment is building a platform that consumers and businesses can rely on, and that starts with a security and compliance infrastructure they can stand behind.

By partnering with GRSee Consulting for both penetration testing and SOC 2 auditing, YELL got something most companies have to piece together from multiple vendors: a single, coherent view of their security and compliance posture. GRSee's combination of technical rigor, compliance expertise, clear communication, and hands-on support gave YELL exactly what a fast-growing fintech needs: the confidence to scale securely, the certification to open new market doors, and the credibility to earn the trust of enterprise customers and banking partners alike.