Fintech
and Payments
Theory Intelligence provides fintech companies, payment providers, banks and their investors with verified primary research for product, partnership, market entry and investment decisions: interviews with merchants, corporate treasurers, bank partners, developers and end users whose roles have been checked, with a signed recommendation and a provenance appendix.
- Merchant or treasurer Signal Brief: 6 to 8 verified decision makers in 10 business days, USD 7,500 to 12,000
- Market entry, partnership or investment Decision Study: 15 to 30 verified interviews, 4 to 6 weeks, USD 25,000 to 75,000
- Win-loss with verified merchants and finance teams who chose a competitor
- Bank partnership and sponsor bank research from verified former bankers and current partners
- Independent evaluation of fraud, compliance and AI vendors
A crowded market with borrowed evidence
Fintech and payments companies pitch to investors and partners with market sizes taken from the same handful of reports, and with customer evidence that comes from their own sales pipeline. Merchants and treasurers are surveyed constantly and answer rarely. Bank partners are cautious and will not speak on the record. The result is a sector where everyone quotes the same numbers and few have talked, independently, to the people who actually choose a provider.
What we do for fintech and payments businesses
Win-loss and buyer research
A Signal Brief interviewing six to eight verified merchants, finance leaders or developers who chose you or a competitor. Buyers say things to an independent researcher that they will not say to a sales team. Signed and quotable within ten business days.
Market entry and product
A Decision Study before a new vertical, geography or product line: fifteen to thirty verified interviews with target buyers, incumbents' customers and channel partners. Willingness to pay, switching friction and the competitive frame tested against real people.
Bank partnerships and sponsor banks
Partnership decisions depend on how banks actually regard fintech partners after several years of regulatory attention. We recruit and verify former bank partnership executives and current partners at non-competing institutions, and present them by role.
Investment diligence
For investors in payments and fintech, a Decision Study tests merchant retention, take rate durability and partner dependence against verified customers and partners rather than the data room.
Vendor evaluation
Fraud, KYC, compliance and AI tooling vendors are sold to fintechs with strong claims. Theory interviews verified current users elsewhere, with no vendor relationship, and signs the recommendation.
Verification
We verify role and employer against professional profiles and company records, brief every participant on confidentiality and consent, and record the method in the provenance appendix. Participants are presented by role and organisation type unless they consent to be named.
All work is delivered under The Theory Standard. See services and prices.
Questions from fintech and payments clients
Can you reach merchants of a specific size or vertical?
Yes, by direct recruitment against the brief. We verify each participant's role and the fact that they make or influence the provider decision.
Do you interview bank partnership teams?
Current executives at a target bank rarely participate. Former executives and current partners at non-competing banks usually will, and we verify their roles.
Can quotations be used in a fundraising deck?
Yes, within consent terms agreed with participants, which we set up for that purpose.
A fintech and payments question worth answering properly?
Write to info@theoryintel.com with the decision. A researcher replies within one business day with a fixed price and a start date.
Start a brief