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?
The latest test had AI models reconcile a month of card and payout settlements for an invented UK and Spanish merchant group, with 17 planted errors worth $4,832. The chart shows what each model missed and what it cost to run.
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