If you’re a startup or fintech looking to grow your business by implementing a card program, you may be overwhelmed by the complexity of the payments ecosystem, and wondering how exactly you can get started. Rest assured, you don’t need to do it all yourself. Finding the right partner to build a program with you is one of the most important investments you can make.
But how do you know if you’ve found “the one”? Kate Cardone, Marqeta’s Head of Growth, advises businesses to think about a few key areas.
When looking for a payments partner, think long term.
It’s about more than who can enable your growth in the immediate future. You want to find a partner who can grow with you over the next several years as your business evolves. That may mean doing a deep dive on their technology and how it can meet your changing needs over time as your volume grows, and how they support you in working with third-parties and navigating compliance issues.
Don’t be afraid to ask tough questions.
Because you want to find a partner who can grow with you, it’s important to assess their scale and stability. Cardone advises that startups ask potential partners about the scale they can support, both now and in the future. She recommends asking questions such as: “What is your total processing volume today? How has that grown over time? What are some of the big brands you currently work with?”
Find a partner with the right focus and areas of expertise
As you evaluate potential partners for your card program, it’s crucial to gain an understanding of how experienced that partner is with the complex payments ecosystem, as this is how they will truly be able to support your business. Evaluate the internal experts that will be available to you so that you can get out of the weeds and let them take care of keeping your program compliant and successful. At the end of the day, a payment partner’s role is to free your team up to focus on what they do best.
So, feeling ready to find a partner who can help your business go from 0 to 100? For a deeper dive into what you should look for when evaluating a payments partner, don’t miss our guide, How Banking-as-a-Service Buyers Can Achieve Differentiation via Technology Partners.
