What PSE Consulting does

PSE Consulting is a London-headquartered specialist payments consultancy operating under the legal entity Payment Systems Europe Limited, founded in 1994 and led by Peter Jones (Chairman and Founder) and Chris Jones (Managing Director). The firm delivers insight-driven advisory services to clients across the full payments value chain — merchants, acquirers, issuers, fintechs, payment schemes and networks, processors, private equity firms, software platforms, and real-time payments organizations — across 100+ countries. PSE does not sell a software product; its core offering is professional consulting engagements, supported by proprietary research studies, published reports and whitepapers, and a thought-leadership content engine spanning articles, weekly news roundups, webinars, podcasts, and videos.

The firm's business model is professional services: fees are engagement-based, scope-driven, and reportedly structured as multi-year contracts, with revenue derived from direct enterprise sales, referrals, and industry events including the flagship annual Merchant Acquiring Conference (MAC) at Merchant Taylors' Hall, London. Operations are anchored by a small senior practitioner team (firmographic band 1-10 employees, with ~11 named individuals including the founder, MD, a Consulting Director, four Senior Managers, two Consultants/Analysts, an Administration Manager, and a Research Analyst & AI Specialist), supplemented by the European Payments Consulting Association (EPCA) alliance for in-country European expertise.

PSE has completed 1,000+ assignments on time and within budget for 500+ clients, holds a stated 91% Net Promoter Score, and maintains strategic partnerships with the EPCA, UK Finance, European Payment Advisors, and a co-marketing alliance with Discover Network and Diners Club International around its Embedded Finance SaaS Roundtable. The firm is privately held, founder-controlled, headquartered at 93 Great Suffolk Street, London SE1 0BX, and has no disclosed parent company, subsidiaries, funding rounds, or M&A activity in the input data.

Name

PSE Consulting

Legal name

Payment Systems Europe Limited

Website

http://www.pseconsulting.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

PSE Consulting is a London-based specialist payments consultancy, founded in 1994, providing insight-driven advisory, proprietary research, and industry events to merchants, acquirers, issuers, fintechs, schemes, processors, PE firms, and software platforms across 100+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Payments Consulting Services: Professional consulting engagements delivering insight-driven payments advice to clients across the payments value chain. Services include strategic advisory, market research, innovation consulting, and project delivery across merchant acquiring, card issuing, and broader payments topics.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

PSE Consulting is a specialist payments advisory firm providing insight-driven professional consulting services to clients across the payments value chain, including merchants, acquirers, issuers, fintechs, schemes and networks, payment processors, private equity firms, and software platforms. Engagements span strategic advisory, market research, innovation consulting, M&A due diligence, embedded finance strategy, and project delivery across merchant acquiring, card issuing, and emerging payments topics such as agentic commerce, real-time payments, open banking, and PSD3. Supplementary offerings include the annual Merchant Acquiring Conference (MAC), published research reports and whitepapers, and the Payment Surgery expert advisory service.

Product overview

PSE Consulting is a payments consultancy offering a portfolio of professional services centered on payments expertise. The core offering is insight-driven consulting for clients across the payments value chain (merchants, acquirers, issuers, fintechs, processors, software platforms, private equity, and schemes/networks). Supplementary offerings include the annual Merchant Acquiring Conference (MAC), published research reports and whitepapers, and insights content (articles, webinars, podcasts, videos). The company does not offer a software product or platform.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Payments Consulting Services Professional consultancy services providing insight-driven payments advice to clients across the payments value chain, including merchants, acquirers, issuers, fintechs, schemes and networks, private equity, processors, and software platforms. Engagements span strategic advisory, market research, innovation consulting, M&A advisory, embedded finance strategy, and project delivery.
• Payment Surgery Expert advisory service for complex payment challenges, offered as a focused consulting engagement for clients facing difficult payments problems.
• Research Reports and Whitepapers Structured research studies and reports on the European payments market and US/APAC trends, including embedded finance SaaS reports, M&A strategy analysis, AI commerce research (e.g., 4,250 consumer surveys on AI shopping behavior), and other proprietary market intelligence products.
• Merchant Acquiring Conference (MAC) Annual flagship industry conference for merchants and acquirers, held at Merchant Taylors' Hall in London, covering Agentic Commerce, Embedded Finance, POS differentiation, and B2B payments, and serving as a forum for networking and knowledge sharing across the payments ecosystem.

Quantifiable outcome

• 91% NPS score from clients
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments9 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Discover Network and Diners Club InternationalcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 7 May 2026Jointly supporting the Embedded Finance SaaS Roundtable event on 7th May 2026 in Soho, London. PSE conducted 500+ interviews with UK SMBs on embedded finance usage and hosts the exclusive event with Discover Network and Diners Club support.
• European Payments Consulting Association (EPCA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPSE Consulting collaborates with EPCA, a collective of companies spanning Europe focused on the dynamic payments market. This alliance enables in-depth, in-country expertise for assignments and provides access to diverse domestic payments market insights through biannual forums.
• UK Finance LimitedminorOthersDisplayed as a partner logo on PSE Consulting website, indicating active involvement in UK Finance initiatives and industry collaboration.
• European Payment AdvisorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerDisplayed as a partner logo, indicating collaboration within the European payments advisory ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Edgar, Dunn & Company: Independent payments consultancy advising merchants, acquirers, issuers, and processors on strategy, M&A, and market entry. Closely comparable to PSE in scope, customer base, and boutique specialist positioning.
• Payments Consulting Group: Boutique payments advisory firm serving issuers, acquirers, and merchants with strategy and operations consulting. Direct peer to PSE in scale, customer profile, and payments-specific focus.
• Glenbrook Partners: US-based payments consultancy offering strategy, market education, and training across payments. Comparable to PSE as a specialist payments advisor serving merchants, networks, and fintechs.
• CMSPI: Payments consultancy specialized in merchant cost optimization, acquiring benchmarking, and payments strategy. Closely comparable to PSE's merchant and acquirer advisory work.
• First Annapolis: Payments consultancy focused on merchant acquiring, issuing, and network services for banks and merchants. Closely comparable to PSE in client mix and product depth; acquired by Accenture in 2021.
• Innopay: Dutch consultancy advising banks, fintechs, and corporates on digital payments, open banking, and digital identity. Comparable to PSE's European payments advisory practice and EPCA-style network model.
• PayGility Advisors: Payments consultancy serving acquirers, ISVs, and merchants with strategy, pricing, and embedded finance advisory. Comparable to PSE in target segments and advisory specialization.

Broad incumbents

• Accenture: Global management consultancy with a large payments and banking practice (and PSE MD Chris Jones' former employer). Competes for the same enterprise advisory RFPs but at significantly larger scale and broader capability set.
• McKinsey & Company: Global strategy consultancy with a dedicated payments and banking practice serving global issuers, acquirers, and schemes. Competes with PSE on enterprise payments strategy mandates at the top end of the market.
• Boston Consulting Group (BCG): Global management consultancy with a payments, fintech, and digital banking practice. Competes for large-scale payments transformation engagements that overlap with PSE's enterprise advisory work.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/pseconsulting
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nicola-henshaw-a561ab23

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about PSE Consulting