Fintech Product and Partnership Strategy Consulting
As a fintech entrepreneur, former bank employee, and consultant with 20+ years in the financial technology ecosystem, I founded Banksmyth to help banks, brands, fintechs, entrepreneurs, VCs, and others navigate the complex financial technology product space.
– Doug Bobenhouse
Your Strategic Partner in Financial Innovation
You can think of Banksmyth as a well connected financial services general contractor, with a diverse and capable network of partners ready to band together in unique configurations to help ensure your success.
Navigating Complexity with Expert Precision
We view every engagement through an experienced entrepreneurial lens, with a keen eye focused on helping clients efficiently manage the ever changing optionality and regulatory environment in this complex and exciting industry.
How can we help?
Ecosystem Navigation
We'll help you navigate the banking and fintech ecosystem, connecting you with key industry players and including introductions to issuing and sponsor banks, regulatory compliance experts, fintech focused attorneys, issuing and acquiring processors, card manufacturers, ID / KYC partners, infrastructure vendors, loyalty and reward providers, marketing firms, product design / build shops, and more.
Product Strategy, Vision, and Design
Acting as your fully outsourced product team or augmenting your internal squad, we lean hard into the "Jobs to Be Done" framework to uncover and solve real problems for real users.
Embedded and Custom Financial Products
Explore embedded and custom financial products and solutions that align with your market objectives. We assist with concept generation, partnership formation, regulatory compliance, program deployment, and more.
Generative AI
Investigate how Generative AI can be deployed safely and with positive impact in your organization. This is a burgeoning area of exploration for the industry but already driving significant product feature, risk mitigation, and operational efficiency advances.
Insights for Startups
Gain access to crucial market insights and strategic advice that can propel your venture from early stage to a major player in the financial services industry. We focus on practical and impactful guidance for rapid growth.
Go To Market
Develop and refine your go-to-market strategies to effectively position your products and achieve substantial market penetration. Together, we’ll evaluate direct sales and channel distribution approaches to ensure a clear path to a solid ROI and sustained growth.
Ongoing Product and Partnership Advisory
Receive ongoing strategic guidance to ensure your financial products and partnerships continue to meet market demands and regulatory standards, driving customer satisfaction, feature functionality, and business success.
Banking as a Service
Banks interested in entering the BaaS issuing / sponsorship space face unique challenges including but not limited to regulatory compliance, product strategy, risk evaluation, vendor selection and management, operational capabilities, and more. We can help here too.
How are we different?
We assemble and configure teams as needed on a project by project basis, so we’re often more nimble and less expensive at the same time. There’s less administrative overhead and more time spent solving problems.
What have we done?
We can't provide client names, but here’s a selection of projects we’ve worked on:
Led Credit as a Service product and partnership strategy for a well known co-brand credit issuing bank.
Directed product design and build of a novel card based annuity rewards program for a significant insurer.
Developed product strategy for a European version of an American style issuing bank.
Co-led early US channel partner strategy for a UK based fintech consultancy.
Revised product and channel distribution partnership strategy for a registered card rewards platform.
Conducted a payment product concept assessment for a real estate alternative asset startup.
Developed business plan, product, and vendor / channel partnership plans for an SMB banking startup.
Who are we?
Founder
I help fintech startups, VCs, banks, and brands with product concept vetting, user-centered design, vendor evaluation, and distribution opportunities.
Get in Touch
We're not only excited about working with great clients but also collaborating with other industry experts and vendors.
To get in touch, please start by telling us a bit about you.