Synthesized and Hive Quality Engineering propose a strategic partnership to help banks and fintechs accelerate ISO 20022 transformation and real‑time payments testing with continuous access to compliant, production‑realistic test data.
Partnership overview
Synthesized will provide an AI‑native test data automation platform that generates and provisions production‑realistic, privacy‑safe test data on demand for complex payments systems and APIs.
Hive brings specialist payments SQE expertise across ISO 20022, SEPA Instant, Faster Payments, and cross‑border schemes, with services that span certification support, performance and load testing, and end‑to‑end payments integration.
Joint value for payments teams
Across banks and fintechs, many of the challenges in ISO 20022 programmes come down to one thing: data
Neill McCarthy, CTO at Hive Quality Engineering Limited, says:
“Many of the challenges we see that are limiting quality engineering and testing in payments are data-related.
Be this the ability to generate specific and compliant data sets for scheme updates and changes; new or updated field changes for messaging standard updates; the need for production-like but suitably desensitised data; or the generation of data at volume and pace for rapid consumption in testing, including data used by agentic payment systems.
By applying AI, integrating our specific domain knowledge and context into data models, and leveraging the Synthesised platform across our solutions and partner ecosystem, we aim to deliver better outcomes in payments testing for key market-driven events.
We are excited to be partnering to help bring solutions to the payments quality engineering space to bring clients the ability to get to revenue faster in a compliant manner.”
Nicolai Baldin, CEO of Synthesized, added:
“Our partnership with Hive brings together AI‑native test data automation and deep payments SQE expertise so banks and fintechs can move to ISO 20022 and instant payments faster, without increasing risk.
By combining continuous, production‑realistic, and compliant test data with specialist payments testing services, we make it practical for engineering teams to embed real‑world payments scenarios into every pipeline and release.”
The partnership targets three core ISO 20022 implementation challenges for software teams:
- Compliance: Synthesized automates privacy‑by‑design test data generation and desensitization, enforcing GDPR‑aligned controls and structured data protection patterns without exposing production PII.
- Performance: Hive designs and executes real‑time performance and load tests for all ISO 20022 messages, including instant and faster payment methods, powered by large‑scale production‑distributed datasets generated by Synthesized.
- Integration: Together, the companies support regression and integration testing for new payment methods, gateways and APIs, using consistent, production‑like data across banks’ heterogeneous application and database estates.
Data for continuous payments testing
Synthesized enables “data as code” for payments teams, using YAML‑based workflows and APIs to provision compliant, production‑realistic datasets into CI pipelines, test automation frameworks, and emerging agentic workflows in minutes, not weeks.
This removes manual test data setup and refresh tasks, replaces brittle subsetting and masking scripts, and ensures test data is always aligned with the latest ISO 20022 schemas and bank‑specific payment formats.
Hive integrates this continuous test data layer into its payments SQE models, embedding automated data provisioning into continuous testing cycles for regression, integration, and performance suites across on‑premise and cloud environments.
Practical outcomes for banks and fintechs
By combining Synthesized’s test data automation with Hive’s payments SQE and compliance services, institutions can:
- Shorten ISO 20022 and SEPA Instant migration and update prior to the required regulatory dates and reduce change timelines by eliminating test data bottlenecks in migration dry runs, cutover rehearsals, and parallel run phases.
- Increase release frequency for payment platforms while maintaining certainty of change, with continuous, production‑realistic data available for every build, pipeline, and automated test.
- Reduce regulatory and data privacy risk by removing production data from non‑production environments and standardizing automated desensitization across all payments testing.
About Hive QE
Hive Quality Engineering is a UK‑based consultancy specialising in payments software quality engineering and compliance testing for banks, fintechs, and financial institutions. Combining deep payments expertise with modern automation, Hive delivers end‑to‑end testing and advisory services for scheme certification, performance, and regulatory change, including ISO 20022 and PCI DSS, helping clients ship secure, compliant payment flows faster.
About Synthesized
Synthesized is redefining software quality through intelligent test data automation and secure, compliant provisioning of test environments. Its "Data as Code" platform enables engineering teams to instantly generate production-realistic test data with an API-first, compliance-by-design approach, turning test data management into a strategic enabler of continuous, AI-driven software delivery. Recognized by Gartner as a Cool Vendor and trusted by global enterprises across finance, telecom, and government, Synthesized empowers developers and QA teams to innovate with confidence.