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It’s the tsunami not many saw coming (despite their frantic posts over the last few weeks).
Financial services around the world are becoming increasingly dependent on US technologies & laws, from the currency they use to the very servers they run on.
The evolution of dependency: three waves
The path to this moment wasn't sudden; it was a methodical expansion of influence across three distinct layers of the financial stack:
- It used to be the Dollar. The standard unique currency for post war international trade, allowing the US to create an oversight over most large financial institution with growing fears of retaliations (BNP Paribas much? ) if their extraterritorial laws where not upholded… everywhere.
- Then the payment rails: Visa, Mastercard, AMEX. The payment rails for day to day expenses. Some countries like France reacted swiftly by creating local schemes, sometimes even with connectivity to the US offers. But the enticement of a unique payment method accepted everywhere was too strong.
- Around 2010 came the silent killer, Infrastructure. Thanks to the global interconnections, your hosting, your core banking, your card processor, your emails, office suite, code management solution… Everything became cloud first… and US first.
The cost of convenience
Uncle Sam recognized a massive opportunity in this shift: oversight and control. Through the Cloud Act and the potential for "kill switches" on platforms like Microsoft, Google, and AWS, what began as daily convenience has evolved into a strategic vulnerability.
It’s not just the threat. It’s about who owns the keys (as our friends in the crypto space like to say).
Operating financial services with a strong dependency on US tech generates huge unseen impacts.
- Market constraints: Your expansion is limited by the markets your providers are allowed to serve.
- Economic vulnerability: You are forced to swallow price swings because…there is no choice.
- Data espionage: You risk exposing sensitive strategic data during international negotiations.
Like the complete details of the travels paid by Airbus’ CCO, while trying to negociate in the Middle East a contract against Boeing.
From theory to sound management
Before a few months ago, everyone was friends (ish). No worries, no subject. Then came the end of an era, and we rediscovered the true meaning of sovereignty.
It’s not about getting out of AWS tomorrow. It’s about knowing the risks and mitigating it.The basis of sound financial management.
Knowing which services you are using are dependent on 3rd parties. Identifying alternatives. Creating contingency plans.
Visa can be replaced by Wero. Stablecoins can replace Dollars. Your Core Banking can’t be replaced… at least not in a hurry.
The reality check: if all your tools are Azure natives and can’t run on anything else, well… here goes your contingency. Rebuilding everything from scratch is not much of a plan especially when you are operating financial services.
The path forward
It is time to demand transparency from your providers. Ask about their plans, their preparation. Don’t think those risks are theoretical.
At Marble, we’re giving our customers the choice of their hosting, without hard dependencies: any cloud, or even bare metal.
Your data, your compliance, your customers: your choice.
Arnaud Schwartz
