Payments and fintech adviser to PE-backed businesses and start‑ups
I work on commercial, product and AI decisions, often around an exit or a merger.
About
After 20 years in payments and fintech, I now advise companies across the industry, from PE-backed businesses to start-ups. I also run custom, independent research into AI in payments and finance operations at ScalePoint Research, focused on build versus buy decisions.
Before ScalePoint I spent ten years in operating roles at Citi, Mastercard and the start-up Luup, then nearly a decade in advisory at Edgar, Dunn & Company, latterly as a Principal, on more than 75 engagements for banks, fintechs, card networks, private equity firms and merchants. I set up ScalePoint in 2024.
What I work on
Around a deal
The equity story before a sale, the case for an acquisition or a carve-out, and the plan after a merger.
The Revenue Narrative for Flow Businesses →Product and commercial
Margin by client and product, pricing against cost to serve, and where to grow next.
The Plan You Inherited →AI economics
What the AI spend is returning, which model does each job at the right price, and whether to build or buy.
AI Is Breaking the Zero Marginal Cost Assumption →Moving between the UK and Spain
Market entry in either direction, introductions to partners and investors, and a read of the pitch before it goes out.
Fintech and Venture Capital in Spain →ScalePoint Research
What can AI do in payments and finance operations?
I test AI models on payments tasks and review what vendors offer for each process, so firms can decide whether to build, buy or combine the two. The first paper tested 34 models on UK card acquiring statements.
Latest writing
Fintech and Venture Capital in Spain: A View from Barcelona
How big Spain's fintech and payments scene is, what Barcelona adds to it, and where Spanish companies tend to get stuck.Read → ArticleThe Plan You Inherited
A signed-off plan leaves most of the commercial decisions unmade. Two lenses on what happens next.Read → ArticleFintech Moats in an AI World
Why the next decade of fintech will be defined by infrastructure and operational embeddedness.Read →How to start
For custom research or advisory work, drop me an email and we can talk it through. Every piece of work is agreed in a fixed-price statement of work.
martin@scalepointpartners.com