Why merchants call me
Either they're about to make a decision that's hard to undo, like choosing a provider or rebuilding a checkout, and they want someone who has made it before. Or they already have a setup that costs too much, converts too little, or breaks in ways nobody can explain.
You're picking a provider
An RFP is running, or a contract is up for renewal, and the decision will shape your checkout for years. You want someone in the room who has bought payments before, not just sold them.
You're building or changing something
A migration, a replatform, a new market or a new payment method. The plan exists, but nobody on the team has done this part before and the risk sits in the details.
Nobody owns payments
Payments sit between finance, engineering and operations as a side task for all three, and the backlog of unanswered questions keeps growing.
What I do
Most engagements combine a few of these. All of it is merchant-side work, with no PSP affiliation behind it.
Choosing and buying
Getting the right provider on the right terms, before anything is signed.
- PSP selection and RFP support
- PSP contract negotiation
- Payment cost and fee review
Building and launching
Turning that decision into a setup that still works at the next order of magnitude.
- Payment integration oversight
- Payment architecture and strategy
Running and improving
The work after go-live, where the money is actually won or lost.
- Payment performance and conversion optimisation
- Day-to-day payment operations
- Interim and fractional payments lead
How we can work together
Three shapes, depending on how much of the problem you want to hand over.
A review
A focused look at your setup, your numbers or an offer on the table, ending in a clear recommendation you can act on yourself.
A project
I own a defined piece of work from start to finish, such as an RFP, a migration or an integration, as the merchant-side counterpart to your team and your provider.
An interim or fractional lead
I take the payments seat on your team for an agreed time each month, through paymentops, and keep payments moving rather than waiting for someone to pick them up.
Why me
I've been the person choosing a PSP, managing the implementation, dealing with payment issues after launch, and looking at the numbers to understand where money or conversion is being lost. That is the whole job, seen from the merchant's side rather than a provider's.
- Based in
- Berlin, Germany
Working across Europe and remote - Experience
- 12+ years in payments
17 years merchant-side - Previously
- adidas
Led the tech payments team - Independent
- No PSP affiliation
Advice with nothing attached - Available for
- Freelance and interim mandates
Remote or on site across Europe - Community
- Stripe Radar
Global community lead
Selected clients
Mercedes · Booking.com · LEGO · SIXT · OBI · Dublin Airport
My work has covered PSP selection and RFPs, payment integrations, product and project leadership, payment architecture, operations and strategy. The common thread has always been the same: making payments work better for the merchant.
I also build Payment Checkout, a set of PSP checkout playgrounds running in test environments, so merchants can see and test a provider's checkout before they choose it. It is the same work in public, and the fastest way to judge whether I know what I'm talking about.
Currently
paymentops
A productized payment operations service on a subscription basis: give mid-sized businesses access to an experienced payments team without the cost or commitment of building a full internal payments function.
Open and taking clients.
Many companies reach a point where payments become too important to manage as a side task, but are not yet large enough to build a dedicated team. That's the gap I'm interested in: PSP management, payment performance, optimisation, operations and the day-to-day problems that come with running payments at scale.
I've seen what a dedicated payments organisation can achieve in a large company. At one of the merchants I worked with, the payments organisation was more than 800 people strong. Most mid-sized merchants don't have anyone to close that gap.
Say hello
If you want to talk about your payment setup, compare notes, or find out whether paymentops fits, feel free to reach out. I'm always happy to connect with people working in the payments space. No sales pitch required.