Our Deposit Access practice provides a full range of advisory services to clients that include financial institutions, payment networks, major retailers, processors, and service providers, among others. Our expertise includes debit and prepaid card issuance, ATM deployment, online payments, card processing and servicing, and emerging payments applications. We maintain deep expertise in current issues facing the payments industry and support our clients on a range of strategic, financial, regulatory, and operating issues.
Client Profile
Our clients include many of the largest and most successful issuers, processors, and service providers. Their payment businesses include debit issuing, prepaid cards, ATM deployment, and online payments. As shown below, our clients span multiple market sectors, roles, and geographical regions:
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Product & Program Expertise
We have extensive knowledge of deposit access payment programs as well as other debit-related financial services. Throughout our 20 years, we have advised clients at both a strategic and tactical level on a range of product and program matters. Our product-related capabilities are listed below.
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Project Highlights
In any given year, we complete over 50 projects on behalf of financial institutions, card networks, and card processors / service providers. The highlights below are representative of the type and scope of assignments we complete and the results we help clients achieve.
Debit Card Issuance
- Strategy & Implementation: Completed a comprehensive debit strategy for a major super-regional bank’s debit issuing business to include performance benchmarking, new product development, customer segmentation strategies, activation and usage improvement, and authorization decline performance improvement.
- Post Durbin Strategy: Assisted numerous financial institutions with regards to EFT network participation, revenue mitigation, and cost reduction strategies in response to the Durbin Amendment.
- Industry Studies: Performed two industry-wide studies on behalf of major payments networks, one focused on best practices for debit card origination practices within banks, the other comparing the operating costs of signature and PIN POS debit issuers.
- Portfolio Analysis: Segmentation analysis on behalf of a large debit issuer to identify areas of greatest potential increases in activation and usage.
- Authorizations: Analyzed the debit authorizations tools and processes for two major issuers with the objective of optimizing authorization rates and DDA fee income.
- Card Servicing: Provided assistance to a leading financial institution and debit card issuer in renegotiating its card production agreement with its current service provider.
- Market Entry: Developed a market entry strategy for a business debit product for a specialty credit card issuer.Processing: Advised a major payments processing vendor in developing its five-year enterprise payments strategy. The project scope includes virtually every financial services product and over 40 individual business units, and involves working with a cross-functional team of business, finance, and strategy executives.
Prepaid Card Issuance
- Strategy & Implementation: Supplemented the development of an alternative financial service provider’s prepaid strategic business plan with quantitative analysis to determine the addressable market opportunity for several open-loop prepaid verticals.
- Market Evaluation: Supported a top 10 global financial institution in their evaluation of the opportunity to enter the US open-loop prepaid market as a program manager. Analyzed opportunities across general purpose reloadable, payroll, government, gift, and incentive verticals. Prioritized verticals based on revenue growth opportunities and competitive dynamics.
- Market Entry: Developed a roadmap and plan of execution for a major consumer financial services provider looking to develop an active program management role in prepaid. Advised on an organizational structure and provided build-versus-buy analyses for major roles across prepaid value chain. Wrote and managed and RFP process to select BIN sponsor, processor, and network partners for prepaid platform.
ATM Deployment
- Deployment Strategy: Advised two top financial institutions on their ATM strategy, including channel strategy, on and off-premise deployment, placement, functionality, and specific growth opportunities.
- ATM Processing: Supported a large U.S. bank in managing a vendor selection process for internal and third party ATM driving solutions.
- Advisory Support: Assisted a major PE firm in evaluating business strategy and market opportunities for potential ATM ISO acquisition.
- Valuation Support: Evaluated several acquisitions of ATM portfolios on behalf of bank and non-bank deployers.
Strategic Sourcing
- Network Vendor Selection: Supported nearly 50% of the top 20 financial institutions over the past four years with regards to credit and debit card branded network vendor selection or renegotiation processes.
- Processing Vendor Selection: Assisted several leading North American financial institutions in managing a competitive selection process for card processing, EFT network, and ATM processing services and negotiating applicable agreements.
Mergers & Acquisitions
- Transaction Support: Served as advisor to clients in strategic sale situations. Transaction support included development of offering materials, soliciting bidders, evaluating proposals, managing due diligence, and negotiating agreements.
- Transition Planning and Support: Assisted a client in developing transition plans for a large spin-off transaction. Support activities included negotiating transition services and other agreements, providing pricing analysis for transition activities as well as pricing for continued services, and evaluation of business separation issues.
- Portfolio Acquisition: Assisted several large regional issuers purchase branded receivables from agent bank service provider prior to launching in-house credit card programs.
Other
- Payments Strategy: Advised a major payments processing vendor in developing its five year enterprise payments strategy. The project scope includes virtually every financial services product and over 40 individual business units, and involves working with a cross-functional team of business, finance, and strategy executives.
Leadership
Our Deposit Access team draws on a pool of professionals with years of experience. Members of our team have played an integral advisory role on many of the transactions that have re-shaped the EFT network industry. The diversity of our client base coupled with the longevity of our client relationships allows us to bring insights that have been tested and proven.
For more information on our Deposit Access leadership team, please reference their biographies:
