Formulating the Strategic Plan for a Payments Technology Provider

Business Services
Communications
Financial Services
•	Formulating the Strategic Plan for a Payments Technology Provider
•	Framing Opportunities Within Investment and Commercial Banking
•	Identifying Business Opportunities for a Payments Processor
•	Developing Requirements for a Stored Value Card Order Management System

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Formulating the Strategic Plan for a
Payments Technology Provider
A provider of technology and services to the banking industry has identified the need for a rigorous strategic planning effort. Faced with a rapidly changing marketplace and aging products, the company realizes that critical decisions must be made to meet growth and profit objectives. Compiling multi-year plans for each of 11 business units, as well as articulating the strategic focus overall, are required. The company recognizes the need for external assistance to create and drive a significantly more comprehensive process than has previously been undertaken. SimpatiCo is asked to lead the effort based on extensive experience within the financial services industry and a view of the future of payments. The company's CEO and President are interested in more than a report and look to SimpatiCo to work with the organization to develop implementable strategies and transfer learnings.

SimpatiCo's Role

SimpatiCo worked with an eight member Executive Strategic Committee, and a 20+ member Planning Team, to formulate a strategic plan to be presented to the Board of Directors for approval in approximately four months. Through a combination of group and individual sessions, soliciting buy-in from industry experts, and secondary research, SimpatiCo delivered:

Compilation of 60+ trends with supporting data points and sources, as well as a summary of the key drivers of change within the company's environment
Framework used by each business unit to document multi-year planning information, such as customer penetration, product life cycles, and competitive positioning
Identification of 30+ strategic opportunities, and development of a prioritization process, leading to focused opportunities requiring further evaluation
Analysis of select opportunities, including demand spend potential, competitive environment, capabilities required, revenue and margin potential, and high-level implementation steps
Articulation of the company vision and strategic themes, supported by business line strategies
Perspective regarding organizational alignment given a chosen strategic focus
Documentation of an "outside-in" view of the payments landscape, including market sizing, distribution of value among player types, key impacts of the changing landscape, and representative competitive offerings being developed
Participation in Board of Directors meetings and associated preparation

Results

The company has approval from the Board of Directors to pursue the proposed strategic plan. The CEO, President, and EVP of Strategy have agreed goals and enhanced appreciation for the value and application of strategic planning. Business unit leaders better understand the direction of their organization. A more comprehensive picture of their landscape has been created and will be used internally for decision-making, as well as with potential customers and partners to illustrate the company's thought leadership. Implementation of the strategic plan will facilitate linkage of the business units and focus the investment and acquisition processes. A clear path has been laid out with a program management office established to drive execution.