Independent analysis of AI for payments and finance operations
We evaluate AI to guide build, buy or stop decisions and measure the actual value delivered in production.
The research at a glance
ScalePoint Research helps payments and finance leaders decide where AI is worth using in their operations, whether they buy a vendor product or build their own. We test AI models on real tasks from a map of 51 processes, such as reconciliation, chargebacks and merchant onboarding, and work out what each case costs, including the cost of mistakes, and where the data goes.
ScalePoint Research is run by Martin Koderisch, an independent adviser on payments and AI, and sits alongside his consulting work. Work with Martin →
Each piece of work looks at three things:
Workload fit
What a model can do on the task.
Cost
Everything it costs to run, including errors.
Compliance
How the model's use is governed, covering data, access and regulation.
What our analysis shows so far
What's new and what's being worked on →
From study result to economic model
Each test has an Excel model, available on request, that turns the results into cost per task, annual cost and payback for a given firm.
Custom research and advisory
ScalePoint Research also works with firms directly on their own use cases, through custom research, advisory projects and executive briefings. The work covers five areas:
- Economic models A model of a use case's cost structure, unit economics, payback and scenarios, with one-off investment kept apart from recurring costs and forecast benefits kept apart from measured ones.
- Build, buy, combine, scale or stop Whether to build, buy or combine for a given process, which deployment option fits, how to fund it, and when to scale, redesign or stop a use case.
- Model and Vendor Check Private evaluations of AI models, or a vendor's AI product, on your own cases: accuracy in money, cost per task and where failures sit, plus acceptance tests for the contract.
- Pricing intelligence Price points for models, hosting and vendor products, and the commercial terms that change cost at scale, built into the economic models.
- Value realisation How adoption, workflow change, output quality, human oversight and risk affect the cost and the value actually delivered, checked against the business case for live use cases.
Studies and articles
Judgement calls in payments operations
Claude Opus 5.5 and Mistral Medium 3.5 on judgement calls in nine payments and finance processes, from chargebacks to treasury prefunding. Used out of the box, the low-cost model was a false economy. Read the study →Reconciling settlements
What S2 found when 11 models reconciled a month of card and payout settlements, and how far apart the models were.Read → Study · S1 · 14 October 2026Reading card statements
What S1 found when 34 models read UK card acquiring statements, which faulty statements they caught, and what each model costs to run.Read → Article · AI economicsThe unit economics of AI in payments and finance operations
What an AI model really costs per case once checking, mistakes and fixed costs are counted.Read →Get an email when new research is out.
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About
Martin Koderisch is the founder and lead analyst of ScalePoint Research. He leads the research on the economics of AI in payments and finance operations, and advises payments and fintech businesses on strategic finance, unit economics and value creation.
He spent ten years in operating roles at Citi, Mastercard and the start-up Luup, then nine years at Edgar, Dunn & Company, latterly as a Principal, on more than 75 engagements for banks, fintechs, card networks, private equity firms and merchants. Since 2024 he has worked independently with payments and fintech businesses on strategic finance and value creation. He splits his time between London and Barcelona.
You can also connect on LinkedIn.