High-Growth FinTech Company Strategic Market Innovation & Exploration
Brightwell Payments
Brightwell Payments, a leading fintech company, dominates the international remittance market for over 100,000 cruise line employees through its mobile app platform. With a strong market position, the company sought to explore how its borderless payments technology could be leveraged in new industries, markets, or user segments.
Results:
New mobile app launch for direct-to-consumer customer segment.
Now that they have the majority of market share within the industry, they wondered:
How does our existing technology platform for borderless payments translate into other industries, markets, and/or user groups?
PHASE I APPROACH: MARKET PRIORITIZATION + STRATEGIC INSIGHTS
To streamline exploration, a structured evaluation framework was developed to assess and prioritize industries with the highest market potential. This approach enabled efficient decision-making while ensuring focus on the most viable opportunities.
Over a 16-week engagement, the team’s discovery included:
- 37 industries analyzed
- 65 expert and consumer interviews
- Global market assessments across multiple countries
- Identification of four high-potential industries
The findings were synthesized into empathy maps, customer personas, and market sizing models, providing data-driven insights for executive and product teams to consider. These insights validated Brightwell’s opportunity to expand into direct-to-consumer global payments.
PHASE II APPROACH: MARKET VALIDATION + MARKET READINESS
Following the strategic assessment, product concept testing and usability research were conducted with 30+ global direct-to-consumer users. These insights revealed key market-specific nuances, enabling targeted product refinements ahead of launch.
OUTCOME & IMPACT
This strategic exploration positioned Brightwell Payments to confidently enter the direct-to-consumer markets, leveraging its proven technology while mitigating risk. The result: a clear roadmap for global expansion, informed by real user needs and market potential.
