Payments Risk Management
Identifying, assessing and mitigating the risks associated with payment transactions across the full lifecycle.
Safeguarding your payments
Payments risk and compliance, engineered for trust
Hummingbird is a professional consultancy working with clients worldwide, specialising in payments risk management, compliance, cross-border and B2B payments, policy and regulation, payments in emerging markets, product strategy — and the AI now reshaping all of them.
Payments RiskComplianceCross-border & B2BPolicy & RegulationEmerging MarketsProduct StrategyAI
0
Years of cumulative experience
0+
Engagements delivered
0+
African markets covered
USD 0+
In client losses prevented
0+
Types of industry experts on call
12 years of cumulative experience. We apply extensive experience and proven methodologies to address your needs and evaluate how effective your controls really are.
Service suite
Specialist help where payments risk, regulation and AI collide
Nine practice areas, delivered by a small senior team with access to more than 20 types of industry expert. Every engagement ends with something your board, your auditor or your regulator can rely on.
We follow best practices
A methodology that leaves no room for oversights
Our approach is comprehensive by design. We diagnose with your own data, design around your operating reality, deploy alongside your team, and then prove the controls work.
Latest informationRegulatory and market intelligence refreshed continuously across every market we advise in.
Modern technologyAnalytics, machine learning and AI tooling applied to risk problems, not bolted on as decoration.
Access to industry expertsOver 20 types of specialist — from scheme veterans to AML lawyers — assembled around your specific question.
01DiagnoseWe start with your data, flows and controls — not a template. Within two weeks you have a clear picture of where risk, cost and regulatory exposure actually sit.
02DesignWe build the framework, strategy or product plan around your operating reality, drawing on our network of specialists wherever depth is needed.
03DeployWe work alongside your team through implementation — writing the policy, tuning the rules, briefing the regulator, training the analysts.
04ProveWe test the controls, measure the outcome and leave you with reporting your board, auditors and partners can rely on.
Depth of knowledge
A comprehensive understanding of the concepts that move the payments industry
Through diligent study and practical experience we have built a nuanced understanding of this industry — one that lets us navigate complex challenges and design solutions with confidence and precision.
B2B Payments
Transactions where one business pays another for goods or services rendered — and the reconciliation, credit and control questions they raise.
Cross-border Payments
Financial transactions between parties in different countries, with the FX, settlement and sanctions complexity that follows.
Policy & Regulation
The laws, regulations, guidelines and industry standards that govern financial institutions and payment service providers.
Payments in Emerging Markets
Payment systems and behaviour in developing and transitioning economies, which carry characteristics, challenges and opportunities of their own.
Artificial Intelligence
Applying machine learning and agentic systems to fraud, onboarding and monitoring — with the governance to make them defensible.
Payments Facilitation
How a payments facilitator or PSP enables transactions between buyers and sellers, and the sub-merchant risk that comes with it.
Open Banking
Allowing third-party providers to access financial data through APIs in order to build new services for customers.
Financial Inclusion
Ensuring individuals and businesses have access to affordable, reliable financial services regardless of status or location.
Lending & Payments
Managing the risks across lending operations and payment processing together, while staying compliant with relevant standards.
We work with Payment service providers, Banks & microfinance, Mobile money operators, Fintech scale-ups, Marketplaces & platforms, Remittance businesses, Digital lenders, Investors & funds, Regulators & associations across more than 25 markets.
In their words
Trusted where the stakes are highest
They found control gaps three audits had missed, then stayed with us until every one of them was closed. The regulator noticed the difference.
The corridor analysis saved us from a launch that looked great on a slide and would have been unprofitable in practice.
We had models in production and no governance around them. Six weeks later we had an inventory, monitoring and a policy our board could sign.
Questions
Before you reach out
Still unsure? Ask us anyway. We welcome questions and would rather tell you we are the wrong fit than sell you the wrong engagement.
Ask us anythingHow do engagements usually start?+
With a short, free call. We listen to the problem, tell you honestly whether we are the right people for it, and follow up with a scoped proposal covering timeline, team and price.
Do you work outside Africa?+
Yes. We work with clients worldwide and have particular depth across 25+ African markets, which is often exactly the perspective global businesses are missing.
How are you priced?+
Fixed fee for defined scopes such as diagnostics, due diligence and policy work; retained monthly capacity for ongoing advisory and regulatory support.
Can you work alongside our existing team and advisors?+
That is usually how it works best. We plug into your risk, compliance, product or data teams and bring in specialists from our expert network only where extra depth is needed.
How quickly can you start?+
Diagnostic work typically begins within two weeks of scope agreement. Urgent matters — a scheme notice, a regulatory deadline, an incident — we treat as urgent.
Feel free to ask us anything
Let's talk about the risk keeping you up at night
Do not hesitate to enquire about any topic of interest. Whether it is a scheme notice, a licence application, a fraud spike or an AI model you are not sure you can defend — tell us the problem and we will tell you honestly whether we can help.
- Based in
- Nairobi, Kenya — working with clients worldwide
- Response time
- Within one business day