Who Can Help Me Build My Credit Card Program?

Launching a credit card (or other lending product) can make you feel like you're spread pretty thin. There's a myriad of vendor, partner, and infrastructure decisions to make, and all of them are consequential. You're juggling a lot:

• Searching for a sponsor bank.

• Writing the credit policy that will define how your first loans are made (and how your first returns will look!)

• Convincing debt providers to take a chance on you.

• Contracts. So many contracts.

• Assembling the tech stack that will be a pain to change down the line.

• Through it all, trying to stay compliant (did you forget about the special notifications for spouses of Wisconsin applicants?)

Choosing great vendors will help. A seasoned compliance advisor can help you avoid the Wisconsin faux-pas, a fast-moving lawyer makes contracting less painful, and a top-of-the-line underwriting platform will advise you on early fraud protections. But orchestrating it all is still a challenge. Do you know what launch-ready looks like? Have you done the necessary prep work for sponsor banks to take you seriously? With so many parties involved, who's ultimately responsible for what?

Truthfully, there's no substitute for experience. What takes a first-time team two years can be done in a few months by experts. Few advisory firms specialize in helping early-stage fintechs build modern credit programs from zero, but they do exist (we're one of them).

To be valuable, your advisor or partner should have:

• Experience building and scaling modern fintech lending programs (not just legacy banking experience).

• Firsthand knowledge of sponsor bank expectations. We mention sponsor banks over and over again for a reason.

• A product mindset, not just a checklist. When all the pieces are assembled, will it feel like your product?

• The ability to translate regulatory and operational requirements into execution. You don't just need advice, you need hands-on help.

What Ensemblex Brings to the Table

Our team has deep experience with all aspects of credit products:

• Product design

• Risk management

• Sponsor bank and regulatory alignment

• Debt & capital

• Vendor stack selection and integration

• Go-to-market operations and scaling

Most importantly, we have a birds-eye view. Your goals are our goals. Rather than being another party for you to manage, we lighten the load, allowing you to focus on your product vision. That's why some of the most innovative names in fintech have partnered with us for their launch.