Fintech Advisory

Launch faster and skip the expensive mistakes: guidance from operators who've built and scaled card programs.

19 card programs guided

Building fintech products is complicated. We've been there. We've launched card programs, navigated compliance nightmares, and figured out how to make it all work. Now, we help founders and teams do the same, without the headaches. We also advise sponsor banks and community banks evaluating fintech and card-program partnerships.

What's included

Fintech Advisory

Banking & Partner Introductions
Regulatory & Compliance Review
Financial Modeling
Partner Onboarding

GTM Strategy

Target Market Definition
Regulatory Considerations
Product Positioning

Co-Brand Credit Card Strategy

Partnership Selection
Cardholder Benefits
Compliance & Risk Management

Core offerings

Sponsor Bank Selection

Finding the right sponsor bank is one of the most important decisions you’ll make when launching a card program. Every bank has different priorities, risk tolerances, program requirements, and operational expectations. The wrong fit can add months of delay, increase costs, or prevent a program from launching altogether.

We start by understanding your business, refining your program strategy, and ensuring your materials, policies, and financial assumptions are ready for bank review. From there, we introduce you to carefully selected partners and guide the conversation through evaluation, diligence, and commercial discussions.

Our goal is simple: help you find the right partner faster and avoid wasting time with banks that are unlikely to be a fit.

Fixed scope · Typically 3 to 4 months

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Card Program Economics

A successful card program starts with understanding how the business works financially. Before making decisions about partners, rewards, pricing, or growth strategy, you need a clear view of how the program will perform.

We work with you to build a custom financial model that reflects the realities of your business, including revenue streams, costs, partner economics, customer behavior, and growth assumptions. The result is a model that helps you evaluate opportunities, understand tradeoffs, and make informed decisions as the program evolves.

Explore our open-source credit card model.

Build vs. Partner

One of the earliest decisions fintech teams face is whether to build capabilities internally or partner with existing providers.

The answer depends on your goals, timeline, resources, regulatory requirements, and long-term strategy. We help you evaluate the tradeoffs, understand the available options, and identify the partners that best align with your needs.

Whether you’re evaluating sponsor banks, issuer and core processors, and program managers (debit, credit) or embedded finance providers, we help you make decisions with a clear understanding of the market and the implications of each path.

How we work

You’ll work directly with operators who have built, launched, and managed card programs. Most engagements are structured as a retainer and tailored to your specific goals, scope, and stage of growth. Typical advisory engagements run between 3 and 9 months, while more focused projects, such as sponsor bank selection, are often fixed-scope and fixed-fee.

Engagements can be as lightweight as a weekly advisory session with Slack and email support, or as hands-on as embedding alongside your team through key decisions and partner conversations.

Frequently asked questions

How do you help choose a sponsor bank?

Choosing the right sponsor bank is about more than finding a bank that’s willing to work with you. Every bank has different requirements, risk tolerances, and program expectations. We start by understanding your business and making sure your strategy, policies, and financial assumptions are ready for bank review. From there, we introduce you to the banks that are most likely to be a fit and guide you through evaluation, diligence, and onboarding. Most sponsor bank selection engagements are fixed-scope and take 3 to 4 months.

What does it cost to launch a card program?

The answer depends on the type of program you’re building, the partners you choose, and the scale you’re targeting. Before making those decisions, we help you build a financial model that outlines the expected costs, revenue streams, and operating assumptions for your program. The goal is to understand the economics before you commit to partners, contracts, or product decisions.

Should we build in-house or use a program manager?

There’s no one-size-fits-all answer. The right approach depends on your timeline, available resources, technical capabilities, compliance requirements, and long-term goals. We help you evaluate the trade-offs among building, partnering, or taking a hybrid approach, and identify the providers that best fit your strategy.

How long does a typical engagement run?

Most advisory engagements last between 3 and 9 months and are tailored to your goals and stage of growth. Some projects, such as sponsor bank selection, are structured as fixed-scope engagements and typically take 3 to 4 months. We also support teams through lighter-touch advisory relationships with recurring strategy sessions and ongoing access between meetings.