A $1B+ digital content leader. From 4 card PSPs to 1 and still scaling.
From a 4-card-PSP shortlist down to a single converted partner — unlocking $300K+ in annual transaction-fee savings and opening two new geographic markets the legacy stack couldn't reach.
- Problem
- A merchant locked into a fractured 4-PSP stack — overpaying on transaction fees and unable to reach two priority international markets the legacy partners couldn't serve.
- Approach
- End-to-end RFI/RFP workstream — shortlisted, scored, and converted the right single PSP partner, then managed the cutover so day-one operations never paused.
- Outcome
- $300K+ annual transaction-fee savings unlocked from day one, two new geographic markets opened, and a partnership that's still scaling SOW five years on.
How SideB helped a $1B+ digital content leader consolidate four card PSPs into one converted partner.
The client operates $1B+ annual merchant-initiated-transaction (MIT) volume across multiple geographies — including markets traditional acquirers won't underwrite for digital media merchants. By the time the consolidation began, sideb.io was managing 4 card PSPs on the client's behalf — each negotiated in isolation and each costing operational cycles to maintain.
Fractured economics, hard-to-place geographies, no volume leverage.
- Fragmented vendor stack. sideb.io was managing 4 card PSPs across regions on the client's behalf, each with its own settlement, compliance, and reporting overhead — no consolidated lever to renegotiate against.
- “Hard-to-place” markets. Mainstream acquirers wouldn't underwrite the merchant category in several LATAM, APAC, and MENA geographies, forcing local-bank-by-local-bank negotiation just to maintain coverage.
- Margin drift between renewals. Annual contracts were renegotiated in isolation, leaving interchange++ markups, scheme-fee pass-throughs and cross-border surcharges to drift quietly between reviews.
- Operational drain. Internal payments, finance, and IT teams were burning cycles on day-to-day vendor management instead of payment-performance work that actually moved the P&L.
- No defensible procurement process. Procurement needed a rigorous, scoring-based RFI/RFP — but lacked the category expertise to run one credibly without anchoring on incumbent bias.
End-to-end RXP, run by an experienced operator. Decision authority stayed with the client.
sideb.io designed and ran the full procurement workstream — qualifier round, competitive RFP, vendor negotiation, and final conversion — while the client retained every executive decision gate.
- 01 RFI qualifier round. Designed the scoring rubric against client-specific criteria — settlement currencies, scheme-token support, 3DS routing, fraud surface, hard-geography coverage — and produced a defensible shortlist of qualified PSPs from the incumbent set of 4 card PSPs.
- 02 Competitive RFP. Ran the full bidding round with the shortlisted vendors — structured Q&A, confidential pricing extraction, capability validation against live transaction patterns, and side-by-side scoring against fixed weights.
- 03 Cross-functional alignment. Worked alongside the client's Payments, Finance, IT, Product, and Fraud teams to make sure technical, commercial, and compliance requirements were aligned before selection — no surprises in implementation.
- 04 Negotiation & contracting. Handled vendor redlines, MSA terms, SLA structure, and pricing locks. Executive sign-off stayed with the client at every gate.
- 05 Conversion & cutover. Migration runbook, parallel-running phase, and full cutover from 4 card PSPs to the single selected partner — without disrupting core revenue operations.
$300K+ saved on day one. Two new markets opened. Five years of compounding and counting.
$300K+ annual transaction-fee savings realized from the cutover, without disrupting core operations. Margin recaptured at the cost line and the routing layer.
2 new hard-to-place geographic markets opened within 12 months of cutover, unlocking previously-blocked revenue across regions the legacy stack couldn't serve.
4 card PSP relationships collapsed to 1. Single settlement, single reconciliation, single technical channel. Internal teams reclaimed cycles for payment-performance work.
Payments shifted from cost-center firefighting to a measurable margin lever — with a scoring methodology the client now re-runs whenever the market shifts.
Five years on, the client is still with the selected PSP — and the Statement of Work has expanded multiple times alongside their growth. The selection methodology validated itself the way the best procurement processes always do: by aging well.
sideb.io runs defensible competitive processes — and stays close enough to make sure the deal you sign in year one keeps paying in year five and beyond.
If your payments architecture has drifted, your stack has gone fractured, or you're scoping an RFP and want an experienced operator in the room — that's the engagement.
Frequently asked questions
How does SideB run a payments RFP differently than a traditional procurement firm?
We embed as an operator, not a buy-side analyst. That means we sit on the same side of the table as the client through market scan, capability matrix, scoring, vendor interviews, and contract negotiation — bringing live knowledge of PSP, gateway, fraud, orchestration, and BNPL economics. Decision authority stays with the client; we run the workstream and arm the team with the data and leverage to win.
How long does an end-to-end PSP RFP take with SideB?
A formal RFP for PSP or gateway selection typically runs 8–12 weeks from market scan to signed contract. An RFI (early discovery, no formal bid) runs 3–4 weeks. Timeline depends on number of vendors evaluated, regions in scope, and the client's internal decision cadence.
Will consolidating multiple PSPs into one really save money?
Usually, yes — but only with the right partner. In the case studied here, collapsing four card PSPs into a single converted partner unlocked over $300K in annual transaction-fee savings, plus opened two geographic markets the legacy partners couldn't serve. The savings come from volume leverage, eliminated redundant integration cost, and clean BIN routing — not from haggling rates alone.
What's the difference between an RFI and an RFP?
An RFI (Request for Information) is early-stage market discovery — we map vendor capabilities and shortlist candidates before any formal commitment. An RFP (Request for Proposal) is the formal procurement workstream with scoring rubrics, vendor interviews, and contract negotiation. SideB runs both, and many engagements start as RFI and graduate to RFP once the shortlist is clear.
Can SideB negotiate with vendors directly on our behalf?
Yes, when scoped that way. We routinely sit in vendor negotiation calls alongside the client's Procurement and Finance leaders, bringing comparable benchmarks and target-rate intelligence into the room. Final signature authority always stays with the client.