LATEST BLOG POSTS
Should the Federal Reserve Create a Digital Currency?
In January 2022, the U.S. Federal Reserve released a long-awaited [...]
Payments 101, Part 8 – Enterprise Payments
With this installment, we come to the end of our [...]
A Realistic Path for NFTs
There has been a lot of hype around non-fungible tokens [...]
WHO WE ARE
Payments 101 is a website and consulting practice dedicated to making complex payments concepts easy to understand, cutting through the jargon to get to the essentials that everyone in the industry should know. Its founder, Aaron McPherson, is a 20-year payments industry veteran, having worked in both research/consulting as well as the industry’s biggest financial technology provider, FIS.
WHAT WE DO
We provide research-based consulting services to large and small businesses focused on partnerships, market assessments, competitive analyses and market forecasts. We also provide training, both in-person and remote, in the full range of payments topics, all delivered in a simple, engaging style that welcomes questions and curiosity, perfect for new employees, salespeople, and others who may be coming into the payments industry from elsewhere. We will be providing free resources on this site in the form of a “Payments 101” blog series, as well as topical commentary. Aaron McPherson has a long history of this sort of outreach, on his Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
AREAS OF SPECIALTY
Strategy Development
Team Management
Market Trend Analysis
Competitive Analysis
Strategic Acquisitions
Relationship Building
Faster Payments
Digital & Mobile Wallets
Payment Hubs
Loyalty Programs
Tokenization
Blockchain
“Aaron brings a depth of knowledge about the payments industry and direct experience from his prior senior strategy posts. As leader of our research team, he helped insure the delivery of quality research and took on special projects to better the group. Three significant initiatives were: (1) the increased technology and vendor comparison style studies across all of our practices; (2) the creation and adoption of the worldwide payments model; and (3) an improved internal system for measuring metrics across the teams performance. I would strongly recommend Aaron for any technical role or leadership over any technical/production capacity. He was respected across our analyst team for his industry knowledge and professional approach. I wish Aaron success in any new role he takes on!”
“I recently hired Aaron for a consulting project to help my company do an assessment of the FinTech market. Aaron did a fantastic job and absolutely exceeded our expectations! From project design to execution and everything in between, he was a pro in every regard. His deep domain expertise coupled with his exceptional network of executives in the FinTech space enabled us to achieve results quickly. I strongly recommend Aaron and I look forward to working with him again as soon as the opportunity presents itself.”
“Worked with Aaron at Financial Insights and found him extremely smart and thorough. He knows his topic areas completely – especially payments – and can go wide as well as deep.”
“Aaron is a clear thought leader in the payments systems and process market. He may also be the most critical advocate in the industry of enterprise payments and payment hub strategies, technologies, and business implications. I have sought Aaron out on numerous occasions for razor sharp thinking on market sizing, vendor evaluations, and technology trends. His insights have proved invaluable and I know first hand have guided significant decisions by major participants in the space.”