Experienced entrepreneurs launch Fintech & Payments Advisory Network

Fintech & Payments Advisory Network (TFPA) offers real-world advice from proven operators and addresses the gap in the market where founders and managers can take advantage of the experience of people who have had roles like theirs and faced similar challenges in strategy and commercialization, business expansion, operational improvement, M&A, marketing and talent acquisition. The business has operations in North America and Europe.

This team has worked across America and EMEA with leading high-tech financial services and payment companies ranging in size from new growth companies to international companies. Together, they are responsible for raising hundreds of millions in funding, leading businesses with a few employees to five thousand, leading over fifty acquisitions and ten mergers and by bringing over $ 1 billion in revenue from new proposals to hundreds of customers. The group has first-hand experience across card schemes, payment channels, acquirers, issuers, to the four major management consulting firms and world-leading retail banks as well as leading start-ups and upscaling companies.

The global fintech industry was valued at $ 7.3 trillion in 2021 and is forecast to grow significantly over the next decade as digital transformation makes access to financial services faster, easier, cheaper and more inclusive. $ 91.5 billion was invested in the sector in 2021, representing 20% ​​of all invested capital worldwide. With huge flows of capital entering the sector and start-ups being founded every day, the need has arisen to leverage the experience of experienced entrepreneurs, investors, change creators and top executives who have faced similar challenges. TFPA was formed to deliver this in a structured, growth-focused way.

Prior to the official launch, the TFPA team delivered hand-picked assignments across EMEA and the United States. They now plan to expand, while retaining their most important differentiation factor: advice based on real-world experience from industry professionals.

TFPA’s partners have significant experience in finance, technology and the payment industry at the highest level:
John De Lavis is the founder of First Direct, served as Head of Group Cards and then Head of UK Payments for HSBC and Chief Product Officer for MasterCard. In the USA, he was COO for NetSpend and then COO for MetaBank from the development as a large American payment bank. He is a board member, advisor or investor for a number of fintechs.

Roger Bracken has held management positions in several international payment technology companies; NCR, First Data and a software with built-in payment upscaling, TSG. He is currently a special adviser to Vitruvian Partners, an investment company, in addition to advising several technical upscaling managers. He is chairman of the board of an early-stage fintech company, WyzePay.

Steve Wright has extensive experience in sales leadership in payment technology, having worked with companies such as Xerox, ACI, Fujitsu and NCR. Steve has spent the last decade working on payment startups and upscaling, including Lusis and Alaric.

John Goodale has extensive experience in the global payment and fintech sectors, and holds a number of senior sales, consulting and product management roles that support a range of issuer management, outsourcing and SaaS solutions. He has worked with TSYS, KPMG Consulting, Zwipe AS, Crosscard SA and DMR Consulting.

Roger Van Scoy has held management positions spanning four continents at First Data, TSYS and ACI, in addition to leading a fintech startup. Roger has a great interest in customer success, which he led from the beginning in ACI and has consulted with such as The Strawhecker Group.
Adam Wright is an entrepreneur and lead search specialist, who has operated around the world with a focus on fintech, payments and banking services.

Angela Yore joins as NED and is an founder and co-founder of SkyParlour, a fintech-specific PR company that offers services to some of fintech’s fastest growing organizations.
Gregor Dobbie joins as NED and is currently CEO of VocaLink and chairman of the board of LoyalZoo. Gregor has a career that extends over 20 years, and operates in a number of management positions in organizations such as De La Rue, NCR and Mastercard.

Co-founder Roger Bracken says about the new venture; “TFPA brings a unique blend of skills and capabilities to help fintechs grow and scale up. We could not have been more excited to work with some of the most dynamic fintech companies and leverage our real-world experience and help them perform. “We also bring our network of senior contacts to the table, which will be ideal for companies looking to work with board chairmen or engage investors and venture capital.”

Today’s news follows the recent announcement of a strategic partnership with The Strawhecker Group (TSG), a globally recognized analysis, intelligence and consulting firm in the payments industry.