FirstPartner is a specialist research and consulting company that brings deep market expertise and clear recommendations to its clients

We deliver the insight, expertise and support that product, marketing, sales and management teams require to validate market opportunities, launch compelling products and services and build engagement with customers and stakeholders.

We are equally at home supporting world leading corporations, specialist vendors and early stage innovators. Founded in 2002, we are based in the UK but serve clients and undertake research across Europe, North America and Asia Pacific.

FirstPartner also works closely with expert partners and associates to build the most effective project teams. We have a strategic partnership with business and technical consultancy The Human Chain and regularly join forces to bring our customers the best possible mix of resource and experience.

Expertise

FirstPartner brings and applies in-depth market, process and product expertise in the following areas:

Payments & Open Banking Authentication & Security Contactless Transit Ticketing Telecommunications Technology & Media

Payments & Open Banking

FirstPartner is currently at the heart of work by payment schemes, banks and PSPs to deliver seamless PSD2 compliant payment experiences. Additional current and recent work includes API enabled, account to account payments services, IoT payments, Business to Business payments, mobile Point of Sale and card product opportunity assessment.

Authentication & Security

We are deeply involved in the work undertaken by payment schemes and PSPs to implement PSD2 SCA. Our expertise spans interpretation of regulatory requirements, technical solutions, scheme rules and authentication for complex payment use cases such as those found in the travel industry. FirstPartner has also authored a series of PSD2 SCA Implementation, Product & Best Practice guides on behalf of a major card scheme.

FirstPartner - Authentication and Security Icon

Contactless Transit Ticketing

Open loop contactless ticketing is being rapidly adopted as a ”must have” by transport operators and authorities across the world. FirstPartner’s transit ticketing experts have been supporting the development and deployment of contactless EMV fare collection since the inception of the concept by Transport for London (TfL) back in 2007. FirstPartner is currently working with payment card schemes, merchant acquirers, integrators, technology vendors and consultancies to bring our extensive transit ticketing implementation experience to contactless EMV open and closed loop fare collection implementation projects around the globe.

Telecommunications

Our heritage is the Telecommunications industry, and we have a strong record of research and proposition development work for leading carriers and vendors. Through our ongoing work we maintain a deep understanding of key topics including the opportunities offered by technologies including 5G, IoT, AI, Machine Learning, VR and AR.

Technology and Media

FirstPartner has served clients in a number of technology led sectors including streaming media, mobile advertising, hosting, cloud services and AI. We are also able to call on a network of partners and associates to bring subject specific expertise where this is required.

Why we’re different

FirstPartner is not your standard “management consultancy”. We mainly work hands on with product and marketing teams of larger clients and with senior management and founders in smaller or early stage companies.

Clients typically use us when they need our expertise, want a structured approach to understanding an opportunity, or just need some flexible extra resource to help them deliver.

When you work with us you will find that we bring you:

Flexibility

We agree clearly up front what we are going to deliver for you, how we will work with you and what it is going to cost – but are flexible and adaptive when circumstances change or it becomes clear that the focus of the work needs to shift

Collaboration

We are happy to become “virtual team members” helping you to deliver what you need on a day to day basis – for example by supporting you with unexpected requests for progress reports or presentations

Quality

We take pride in the quality and integrity of our deliverables. We ensure a high standard of visual presentation, make evidence based recommendations and are committed to making sure you get value from our work

Focus

We understand and focus on what really matters, seeing through market complexity and offering very clear recommendations and arguments illustrated with critical examples and facts

What our clients say

FirstPartner has been a great partner to work with, stepping in to provide expert support to our market analysis and marketing teams as our business has grown and diversified

Kuba Zmuda

Chief Product Officer

Modulr Finance

FirstPartner successfully steered us through the complexity and diversity of Asian payments markets and gave us a really clear view of where to focus our product and market development strategy

Anna George

Head of Product

WEX Australia

FirstPartner have been great to work with, providing really strong analysis and guidance and responding quickly and effectively whenever we needed additional input

Kathryn Grant

Head of Marketing

WEX Australia

FirstPartner were instrumental in helping develop the commercial vision for Persuadr and giving us confidence to understand that we had a real business opportunity

Emmanuel Hadoux

AI Researcher & Founder of Persuadr AI

UCL/Persuadr AI

FirstPartner’s work brought clarity to our understanding of a complex, challenging market and the research received great feedback from the WEX team. The project helped us to build a focussed Go to Market strategy with confidence.

Myles Stephenson

Managing Director

WEX Europe

FirstPartner delivered a deep and insightful piece of research and analysis which was very well received within Oracle and has given us a valuable additional perspective for addressing this market

Gordon Rawling

EMEA Marketing Director

Oracle Communications