NAPLES, Florida — Sept. 28, 2026
Executive Summary
Wellesley Hills Financial has launched the WHF Fintech & Payments Institute, an operator-led advisory and fractional executive practice serving fintech, payments and B2B software companies. The Institute combines operator execution experience, fractional executive placement, payments economics optimization and transaction advisory. WHF stated that the practice already has multiple active client engagements and draws on experience spanning billions in payments volume, more than 50 years of execution experience and a network exceeding 40,000 industry relationships.
Announcement Overview
The WHF Fintech & Payments Institute has been established to provide hands-on operational and advisory support to companies navigating important business, financial and transaction decisions. Wellesley Hills Financial stated that the practice addresses a longstanding gap by giving founders and operators access to practitioners with direct experience in fintech architecture, acquiring relationships, payments economics, interchange optimization, card brand compliance and transaction preparation. The Institute launches with multiple client engagements already underway and offers a structure spanning diagnostic assessment, fractional operator advisory and transaction preparation, with WHF’s established M&A and capital advisory platform available when clients choose to raise capital or go to market.
Key Announcement Details
- Announcement Type: Launch
- Announcing Entity: Wellesley Hills Financial
- Announcement: WHF Fintech & Payments Institute
- Announcement Date: September 28, 2026
- Dateline: NAPLES, Florida
- Practice Focus: Fintech, payments, and B2B software
- Practice Model: Operator-led advisory and fractional executive practice
- Core Offering: Operator execution, payments economics optimization, fractional executives, and transaction advisory
- Target Companies: Fintech, payments, and B2B software companies
- Launch Status: Multiple active client engagements
- Leadership: O.B. Rawls, Mark Bishopp, Adam Hark, and Anthony Malatesta
- Initial Offering: Free 90-minute Compass Session
- Transaction Support: M&A and capital advisory
- Company Founded: 2007
- Headquarters: Boston, Massachusetts
The WHF Fintech & Payments Institute
Wellesley Hills Financial, or WHF, stated that the new WHF Fintech & Payments Institute is an operator-led advisory and fractional executive practice designed specifically for fintech, payments and B2B software companies.
The Institute brings together four core capabilities:
- Operator execution experience
- Fractional executive placement
- Payments economics optimization
- Transaction advisory
The practice is intended for companies dealing with decisions that can shape their operational development and transaction readiness.
WHF stated that the Institute already has multiple active client engagements underway at launch.
Its collective experience includes:
- Billions in payments volume
- 50-plus years of execution across fintech architecture, acquiring relationships and payments economics
- A network of more than 40,000 operators, investors, processors and card brand relationships across the global fintech and payments ecosystem
Addressing an Operator Experience Gap
WHF stated that founders and operators in fintech and payments have historically lacked access to advisors who have personally held the roles they now occupy and worked through the operational challenges associated with building and running these businesses.
The Institute brings practitioners with experience in areas including:
- Building fintech businesses from the inside
- Fintech architecture
- Restructuring interchange economics
- Acquiring relationships
- Card brand compliance
- Payments economics
- Operational complexity
- Institutional transaction readiness
The practice is designed around direct involvement from experienced operators rather than advisory support conducted solely from outside the business.
Leadership Perspective
Mark Bishopp, Founding Practice Lead, WHF Fintech & Payments Institute, described the Institute’s approach to preparing companies before they enter a financing or transaction process.
“I have spent 30 years watching founders in this space get taken to the table before they were ready. Their job is to build and run the business, not to constantly operate in a mode that maximizes valuation. Most financial firms know what a clean deal room looks like. They know what metrics a buyer wants to see. What they do not know is how to actually get the business there. The payments economics, the processor relationships, the interchange optimization, the operational decisions that move the number before the process ever starts. We have seen more of these movies than anyone in this market. We know how they end, and we know how to fast-track the path to the best one.”
O.B. Rawls, Senior Advisor, WHF Fintech & Payments Institute, described how the Institute is structured around direct operator involvement.
“The companies that come through the Institute arrive at a transaction better prepared, with cleaner payments economics, a sharper narrative, and a shorter path to close. We are not adding a consulting layer. We are bringing the operators in, the practitioners who have already run what these founders are running, and giving them direct access to what we know at the moment they need it most.”
Adam Hark, Partner, Wellesley Hills Financial, addressed the fractional operator model and its role for portfolio companies.
“Portfolio companies in fintech and payments frequently lack the operator depth to optimize their businesses before a process begins. The Institute fills that gap on a fractional basis, at the right time, from practitioners who have built these businesses from the inside. Every dollar spent in the Institute is an investment, not a cost.”
The Practice in Detail
The Compass Session
The Compass Session begins every Institute engagement with a free, 90-minute diagnostic conducted by a senior operator.
The session is structured around:
- No pitch
- No obligation
- A clear assessment of where the business stands
- Identification of the highest-leverage next actions
WHF stated that clients leave the session with a direct assessment of their current position and the actions that can be prioritized next.
Operator Advisory
Operator Advisory provides direct, fractional support from senior practitioners working inside client businesses.
The practice covers:
- Payments monetization
- Fintech structuring
- Net revenue analysis
- Go-to-market strategy
- CFO readiness
- Transaction preparation
WHF stated that this model is not advisory conducted from a distance; practitioners work directly within client businesses on the relevant operational priorities.
Transaction Pathway
Transaction Pathway connects Institute work with WHF’s established M&A and capital advisory platform when a client decides to raise capital or go to market.
According to WHF, a company completing an Institute engagement enters that process with key transaction preparation already addressed, including:
- Financial model built
- Data room constructed
- Transaction narrative developed
- Payments economics optimized
The pathway connects operational preparation with subsequent M&A and capital advisory work.
The Institute Team
The Institute team includes:
- O.B. Rawls — Senior Advisor
- Mark Bishopp — Founding Practice Lead
- Adam Hark — Founder & Managing Member, Wellesley Hills Financial
- Anthony Malatesta — Managing Director, Wellesley Hills Financial
The team brings experience across the operational, payments and transaction areas addressed by the Institute.
About Wellesley Hills Financial
Wellesley Hills Financial is a Boston-based investment bank specializing in B2B SaaS, fintech and payments within the lower-middle market.
- Founded: 2007
- Headquarters: Boston
- Additional branches: New York, Atlanta, Los Angeles, Lisbon and London
- Services: M&A advisory, capital raises, recapitalization, valuations and strategic advisory
- Combined transaction expertise and industry knowledge: More than 100 years
- Payments and fintech transactions advised: More than 50
The firm serves companies across the lower-middle market and focuses its investment banking and advisory capabilities on B2B SaaS, fintech and payments.
Media Contact
For additional information, visit wellesleyhillsfinancial.com.
Source Attribution
Source: Company announcement
