How to Build a Neobank: The PM's Complete Scoping Guide for the Stablecoin Era

You are a product manager. You have identified a market that needs better financial services — maybe cross-border freelancers, maybe creator economy workers, maybe small businesses in emerging markets. You want to build a neobank, and your job is to scope the project, align stakeholders, and prepare your team to execute.

Five years ago, scoping a neobank meant preparing for $10M+ in fundraising, a 30-person hiring plan, and an 18-month integration timeline across sponsor banks, card networks, and compliance vendors — before a single user could open an account.

Today, the stack has fundamentally changed. Stablecoins and embedded wallets have collapsed the infrastructure requirements to the point where a focused team can ship a production financial product in weeks.

This guide is your scoping companion. It covers every decision you need to make, every stakeholder you need to align, and every trade-off you need to evaluate — so you can walk into your kickoff meeting with a clear plan.

Before You Start: The Key Questions

Before diving into architecture and vendors, answer these questions. They will shape every downstream decision:

1. Who is your target user? Cross-border workers? Crypto-native teams? Emerging market savers? Creators? The answer drives feature priority, compliance needs, and go-to-market.
2. What geographies will you serve? Each region has different regulatory requirements. US, EU, and LatAm have very different licensing paths.
3. What is your MVP? Stablecoin wallets with transfers? Or do you need cards and fiat on/off ramps from day one?
4. What is your custody posture? Will you hold user funds (custodial) or will users hold their own keys (non-custodial)? This has massive regulatory implications.
5. What is your revenue model? Interchange? Subscription? Yield? FX spread? This determines which infrastructure you need.

PM Tip: Write a one-page brief answering these five questions before you start technical scoping. Share it with engineering, legal, and design leads for alignment. Every decision in this guide flows from these answers.

Understanding the Architecture: The Four Layers

A modern stablecoin neobank has four layers. As a PM, you need to understand what each layer does, who owns it, and where the build-vs-buy decisions live.

The key insight for PMs: Layers 1 and 2 are mostly buy decisions. Layer 3 is where your engineering team builds differentiation. Layer 4 is where product and design create the user experience. Your scoping work should focus on evaluating vendors for Layers 1-2 and defining requirements for Layers 3-4.

Layer 1: Settlement — The Blockchain Choice

Your engineering team will make this call, but you need to understand the trade-offs because they affect cost, speed, and ecosystem.

Network	Transaction Cost	Finality	USDC Liquidity	Ecosystem
Base	< $0.01	~2 seconds	$4.8B+	Coinbase ecosystem, largest L2 by stablecoin value
Arbitrum	< $0.01	~1 second	$3B+	Mature DeFi ecosystem
Polygon	< $0.01	~2 seconds	$1.5B+	Wide adoption, especially in gaming/consumer
Ethereum L1	$1-10	~12 seconds	$25B+	Highest security, highest cost

PM decision input: For most neobank use cases, Base is the pragmatic choice — deepest stablecoin liquidity among L2s, Coinbase ecosystem integration, and sub-cent transaction costs. Ask your engineering lead: "Is there a technical reason we should not default to Base?"

Layer 2: Financial Infrastructure — Your Biggest Vendor Decisions

This is where most of your scoping and evaluation work lives. There are four sub-components, and each requires a vendor decision:

1. Wallet infrastructure — Handles wallet creation, key management, transaction signing, and gas sponsorship. This is the most technically complex component.

2. On/off ramps — Converts between fiat and stablecoins. Building your own requires money transmitter licenses.

3. Card issuance — Lets users spend stablecoins at traditional merchants. Requires Visa/Mastercard partnerships.

4. Compliance — KYC verification, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening.

PM Action Item: Create a vendor evaluation matrix for each of these four areas. See the "Vendor Evaluation" section below for criteria.

Layer 3: Business Logic — Your Team Builds This

This is your core product logic — the differentiated code your engineering team writes:

• User management and authentication
• Transaction routing and fee logic
• Notification systems
• Analytics and reporting
• Internal admin tools

What to scope: Define the API contract between your business logic and the vendor services in Layer 2. Work with your engineering lead to estimate the data model and key integrations.

Layer 4: Application — Where Product Differentiation Lives

Your mobile app and web interfaces. This is where design and product create the experience:

• Onboarding flow and KYC UX
• Transaction and transfer experience
• Card management
• Settings and support

What to scope: User flows, wireframes, and the interaction model between the app and backend APIs. This is standard product work — the blockchain is invisible to users.

The Wallet Decision: Your Most Important Technical Trade-Off

The wallet architecture is the single most important technical decision. It determines your security model, custody classification, user experience, and regulatory posture. As a PM, you need to understand the options well enough to make an informed recommendation.

The Three Models

Model	How It Works	Regulatory Impact	UX Impact	Build Complexity
Custodial	You hold private keys on behalf of users	Requires custody licensing (trust charter, banking license, or MTL)	Simplest for users	Medium — but high regulatory burden
Non-Custodial (Embedded)	Users own their keys, but wallet is invisible in your app	Lower regulatory burden — you are not a custodian	Seamless — users authenticate with passkeys/biometrics	Low with managed service, high from scratch
Hybrid	Different models for different tiers (e.g., non-custodial for spending, custodial for large deposits)	Complex — multiple regulatory frameworks	Flexible	Highest

PM recommendation for most teams: Non-custodial embedded wallets. Users authenticate with familiar methods (email, passkeys, Face ID) and never see blockchain complexity. You avoid custody liability and the associated licensing burden.

Key Management: What to Ask Engineering

Your engineering team will evaluate key management approaches. Here is what you need to know to ask the right questions:

• Passkeys (WebAuthn): Keys bound to biometrics (Face ID, Touch ID). Best UX, hardware-backed security, no centralized key storage. Ask: "Do our target devices support passkeys?"
• MPC (Multi-Party Computation): Key split into shares across multiple parties. No single point of failure. Ask: "Who holds the key shares? What happens if one party is unavailable?"
• HSM (Hardware Security Modules): Keys in tamper-resistant hardware. Used for backend/treasury wallets. Ask: "What is the HSM provider's SLA and disaster recovery?"

Smart Accounts: Why They Matter for Your Product

Standard crypto wallets are just keypairs — they cannot enforce business rules. Smart accounts built on ERC-4337 account abstraction unlock product features that are impossible otherwise:

Capability	What It Means for Your Product	PM Priority
Gas Sponsorship	Users never pay or see transaction fees	Must-have — any gas fee exposure kills conversion
Spending Policies	Per-user limits, merchant restrictions, approval workflows	Important for compliance and parental/corporate use cases
Transaction Batching	Multiple operations in one step — better UX, lower costs	Nice-to-have for MVP, important at scale
Social Recovery	Users recover access via trusted contacts — no seed phrases	Important for consumer products
Session Keys	Temporary permissions for specific actions	Advanced — useful for integrations

PM Checklist — Wallet Decision:

• Aligned with legal on custody model (custodial vs. non-custodial)?
• Confirmed key management approach with engineering?
• Gas sponsorship budgeted as operating expense?
• Smart account features prioritized for MVP vs. later phases?
• Evaluated build vs. buy for wallet infrastructure?

Build vs. Buy: Wallet Infrastructure

This is a critical decision. Here is the framework:

Factor	Build In-House	Use Managed Service (e.g., Openfort)
Time to production	6-12 months	1-2 weeks
Engineering investment	3-5 dedicated wallet engineers	Integration work only
Maintenance burden	Ongoing — key management, security patches, audits	Provider handles it
Customization	Full control	API-level customization
Best for	Wallets are your core differentiator	Wallets enable your product (not the product itself)

PM recommendation: Unless wallet technology is your company's core differentiator, use a managed service. The 6-12 month build timeline is rarely worth it. See build vs. buy analysis for a deeper breakdown.

Backend Wallets: Server-Side Operations

Your product will also need server-side wallets for operations that run without user interaction:

• Treasury management: Holding operational funds, automated sweeps
• Payroll/disbursement: Automated multi-recipient transfers
• Gas funding: Funding paymasters that sponsor user transactions
• Liquidity management: Moving funds between chains or protocols

What to scope: Work with engineering to define which backend wallet operations are needed at launch vs. later. Treasury management and gas funding are day-one requirements.

Stablecoin Integration: What to Know and Decide

For a deeper look at the infrastructure evolution behind this shift, see our companion article on neobank wallet infrastructure.

Choosing Your Stablecoin

This decision affects compliance posture, liquidity, and partner compatibility:

Stablecoin	Issuer	Circulation	Compliance Posture	Best For
USDC	Circle	$50B+	SOC 2, regulated, reserves audited	US/EU fintechs, institutional use — recommended default
USDT	Tether	$130B+	Largest by volume	Emerging markets, high liquidity needs
PYUSD	PayPal	$500M+	PayPal-regulated	PayPal ecosystem integration
EURC	Circle	Growing	MiCA-compliant	Euro-denominated products

PM decision: Default to USDC unless your target market strongly favors USDT (common in emerging markets). For multi-currency products, plan to support both USDC and EURC with on-chain swaps.

Questions to ask legal: "Given our target geography and user base, which stablecoins can we support from a compliance perspective? Are there restrictions on USDT in our operating jurisdictions?"

On-Ramps and Off-Ramps: Connecting Fiat and Crypto

Users need to move between fiat and stablecoins. This is where you connect the blockchain world to the banking world.

On-ramp (fiat → stablecoin): User deposits USD from their bank account and receives USDC in their wallet.

Off-ramp (stablecoin → fiat): User converts USDC to USD and withdraws to their bank account.

Provider	Strengths	Coverage	PM Evaluation Notes
Bridge (Stripe)	Deepest Stripe integration, Visa cards, stablecoin accounts in 101 countries	Global	Best if you are already in the Stripe ecosystem or need card issuance
MoonPay	Consumer-friendly widget, broad crypto support	160+ countries	Good drop-in solution, higher fees
Transak	Developer-focused APIs, wide payment methods	170+ countries	Good for markets needing local payment methods
Ramp Network	European focus, strong compliance	EU focus	Best for EU-first products

Bridge (acquired by Stripe) is becoming the infrastructure default. Key capabilities to evaluate:

• Orchestration API for programmatic stablecoin movement
• Virtual accounts with unique routing numbers
• Automatic fiat-to-USDC conversion
• Stablecoin financial accounts in 101 countries
• Visa card issuance backed by stablecoin balances

Real-world validation: Airtm processes $1.2B in stablecoin volume using Bridge APIs to serve 2.5M+ users across Latin America and emerging markets.

PM Action Item: Request pricing, coverage maps, and integration timelines from at least two on/off ramp providers. Key evaluation criteria: supported geographies, payment methods in your target market, settlement times, fee structure, and KYC requirements.

Cross-Border Payments: Your Competitive Moat

If your target users transact across borders, this is your strongest value proposition:

	Traditional Cross-Border	Stablecoin Transfer
Cost	5-7% of transfer amount	< $0.01
Time	3-5 business days	Seconds
Intermediaries	3-5 banks	Zero
Visibility	Limited tracking	Full on-chain transparency

What this means for your product: A freelancer in Mexico receiving $5,000 from a US client saves $250-350 per transfer. This cost difference is a tangible, quantifiable value proposition you can use in positioning and GTM.

Card Programs: Scoping Physical Spend

Users will want to spend their stablecoin balance at traditional merchants. Card programs make this possible, but they add complexity and vendor dependencies.

How Stablecoin Cards Work

The user's balance stays in USDC until the moment of purchase. Conversion happens at point of sale.

Card Issuance: Vendor Options

Option	Provider Examples	Pros	Cons	Best For
Full-stack issuer	Rain, Reap	Direct Visa/Mastercard membership, proven scale (Rain: $3B+ annualized volume)	Less flexibility, their compliance requirements	Teams wanting fastest path to cards
Platform-based	Bridge/Stripe Issuing, Gnosis Pay	Integrated with stablecoin infrastructure, white-label options	Platform dependency	Teams already using Bridge/Stripe for on/off ramps
Card-as-a-service	Marqeta, Lithic	Maximum customization, proven infrastructure	More integration work, higher minimum volumes	Teams with strong engineering capacity and specific card requirements

Card Economics

Crypto card volume has grown from ~$100M monthly in early 2023 to over $1.5B monthly by late 2025 — a 106% CAGR. Annualized volume now exceeds $18B.

Revenue Stream	Typical Margin	PM Notes
Interchange fees	1-3% of spend volume	Primary card revenue — negotiate BIN sponsor rates carefully
FX spread	Variable on cross-currency transactions	Significant for cross-border user bases
Card issuance fees	$5-20 per physical card	Consider virtual-first to reduce costs
Premium card tiers	$5-20/month subscription	Metal cards, higher limits — strong for retention

PM Decision: Cards in MVP? Cards are a powerful feature but not the core product. Consider launching without cards (Phase 1-2) and adding them in Phase 3. The core value proposition is stablecoin accounts with instant transfers. Cards expand utility but add 4-8 weeks to the timeline and a major vendor dependency. Discuss with your team whether cards are a day-one requirement or a fast-follow.

Regulatory Planning: What Legal and Compliance Need from You

Regulation is not optional, and stablecoins do not eliminate regulatory requirements — they change which regulations apply. For a comprehensive overview, see our stablecoin regulation and licensing guide.

As a PM, your job is to ensure legal and compliance are looped in early and that their requirements are factored into the product plan.

United States

• Money Transmitter Licenses (MTLs): Required in most states if you transmit stablecoins on behalf of users. Full licensing across all states takes 12-18 months and $500K-2M. Alternative: partner with a licensed entity (much faster).
• GENIUS Act (2025): Federal framework for payment stablecoins. Restricts issuance to regulated entities. Issuers must maintain full reserves and provide monthly disclosures.
• FinCEN / BSA: Anti-money laundering obligations apply. You must implement a compliance program, file SARs, and maintain transaction records.

European Union

• MiCA (Markets in Crypto-Assets): Fully applicable since January 2025. Clear framework for stablecoin operations, including e-money token (EMT) and asset-referenced token (ART) categories.
• E-Money License: May be required depending on your stablecoin activities.
• PSD2/PSD3: Payment services regulations that may apply to fiat on/off ramp operations.

The Practical Path for Most Startups

Phase	Regulatory Approach	Timeline
Phase 1: Launch	Partner with licensed providers for all regulated activities (on/off ramps via Bridge/Stripe, card issuance via licensed issuer, KYC via compliance vendor)	Weeks to months
Phase 2: Growth	Obtain your own MTLs or e-money license as volume grows	12-18 months
Phase 3: Scale	Consider banking charter or specialized fintech charter for full-service offering	2+ years

PM Checklist — Regulatory:

• Engaged legal counsel with fintech/crypto experience?
• Identified required licenses for target jurisdictions?
• Mapped which activities will be handled by licensed partners vs. in-house?
• Budgeted for compliance costs ($50-150K/year for stablecoin stack)?
• Defined KYC requirements with legal (document types, liveness check, enhanced due diligence thresholds)?
• Confirmed sanctions screening approach with compliance?

KYC/AML Implementation: Vendor Landscape

Function	Provider Options	What to Evaluate
Identity verification	Jumio, Onfido, Persona, Sumsub	Pass rates in your target market, document coverage, liveness detection quality
Sanctions screening	Built into most KYC providers	Real-time vs. batch, list coverage (OFAC, EU, UN)
On-chain monitoring	Chainalysis, Elliptic, TRM Labs	Address risk scoring, real-time alerts, regulatory reporting
SAR filing	Compliance team + tooling	Workflow for escalation and filing

Questions to ask KYC vendors: "What are your pass rates for [target country] documents? What is your average verification time? Do you support [specific document types] needed in our market? What is your pricing model at our projected volume?"

Security Architecture: What PMs Need to Understand

Financial products demand defense-in-depth security. You do not need to architect this, but you need to ensure it is scoped, budgeted, and prioritized correctly.

Key Areas to Scope with Engineering

Key Management — The most critical security concern:

• User keys: Passkey-based authentication (keys never leave the device)
• Server keys: HSMs or TEEs for backend wallets
• Access controls: Multi-party approval for treasury operations

Smart Contract Security (if deploying custom contracts):

• Third-party audits before deployment ($50-200K per audit)
• Formal verification for critical financial logic
• Emergency pause functionality

Application Security — Standard fintech practices:

• Multi-factor authentication with step-up for high-value operations
• Rate limiting and API security
• Data encryption (at rest and in transit)
• Real-time monitoring and alerting

Fraud Prevention — Stablecoin-specific considerations:

• Velocity checks (limits on transaction count/volume per time window)
• Address screening against sanctions lists
• Behavioral analysis for account takeover detection
• Optional user-configured trusted addresses for large transfers

PM Checklist — Security:

• Discussed key management approach with engineering lead?
• Budgeted for smart contract audits (if deploying custom contracts)?
• Defined fraud prevention rules with engineering and compliance?
• Planned for incident response runbook?
• If using managed wallet service — reviewed provider's security certifications and audit reports?

User Experience: Scoping the Product

The entire point of embedded wallet infrastructure is to make blockchain invisible. Your UX should feel like a traditional banking app.

Onboarding Flow

Target: Under 5 minutes from download to funded account.

The wallet creation at step 4 is invisible. The user enrolls a passkey for security and convenience. Behind the scenes, an embedded wallet and smart account are provisioned.

PM Scoping Questions for Design:

• What is the minimum KYC flow for our target market? Can we do tiered KYC (basic for small amounts, enhanced for larger)?
• What recovery flow do users get if they lose their device?
• What does the empty state look like after onboarding — how do we drive first deposit?
• What notifications does the user receive (and through which channels)?

Third-Party Services Map

Use this as your vendor landscape overview when scoping integrations:

Function	Recommended Providers	Integration Effort
Wallet infrastructure	Openfort (embedded wallets, smart accounts, gas sponsorship, backend wallets)	1-2 weeks
On/off ramp	Bridge (Stripe) or MoonPay	2-4 weeks
KYC	Persona or Sumsub	1-2 weeks
Card issuance	Rain, Bridge Visa, or Gnosis Pay	4-8 weeks
On-chain monitoring	Chainalysis or TRM Labs	1-2 weeks
Notifications	Firebase Cloud Messaging + email (SendGrid/Resend)	1 week

Cost Planning: Budgets and Unit Economics

Launch Costs (MVP to Production)

Category	Stablecoin Stack	Traditional Stack	PM Notes
Engineering team (3-6 months)	$150-400K	$1-3M	5-8 engineers for stablecoin stack vs. 15-30 for traditional
Wallet infrastructure	Usage-based (near zero at start)	$500K-1M (build) or $200K/year (buy)	Managed service scales with usage
On/off ramp integration	Revenue share model	ACH/wire setup: $50-200K	Revenue share means low upfront cost
Card program	Per-card pricing	$100K+ setup + per-card	Defer to Phase 3 if possible
KYC/compliance	$20-100K/year	$300K-1M/year	Volume-dependent pricing
Legal/licensing	$50-150K	$500K-2M	Partner path vs. direct licensing
Total to launch	$300K-800K	$5-15M	10-15x cost reduction

Operating Costs (Annual at 10K Users)

Category	Stablecoin Stack	Traditional Stack
Infrastructure (cloud, services)	$50-150K	$200-500K
Wallet/blockchain services	$20-100K	N/A
BaaS / Sponsor bank fees	N/A	$500K-2M
Compliance	$50-150K	$300K-1M
Card program	Per-transaction	Per-transaction + minimums
Support	$50-150K	$100-300K
Total annual	$200-600K	$1.5-4M

Revenue Model

Revenue Stream	Typical Margin	When It Activates
Card interchange	1-3% of spend volume	Phase 3 (card launch)
On/off ramp spread	0.5-2% of volume	Phase 2 (fiat rails)
FX spread (cross-border)	0.5-1.5%	Phase 1 (stablecoin transfers)
Premium subscriptions	$5-20/month per user	Phase 4 (growth features)
Yield on deposits (DeFi treasury)	Variable	Phase 4

Unit economics example: At 10K active users with $1K average monthly spend, a stablecoin neobank can generate $120K-360K annual interchange revenue alone — potentially reaching cash-flow positive much earlier than traditional neobanks that require millions of users to cover their infrastructure costs.

PM Action Item: Build a financial model with your finance lead. Key inputs: projected user growth, average account balance, monthly transaction volume, interchange rate, and on/off ramp spread. Model the path to unit economics breakeven.

Go-to-Market: Choosing Your Niche

Because infrastructure costs are 10-100x lower with stablecoins, you do not need millions of users to sustain the business. This enables deep specialization — and as a PM, picking the right niche is your most important strategic decision.

Target Segment	Pain Points	Stablecoin Solution	Market Validation
Cross-border workers & freelancers	5-7% transfer fees, 3-5 day settlement, banking access issues	Instant near-free transfers + local off-ramp	Airtm: $1.2B+ volume, 2.5M users in LatAm
Creator economy / gig workers	Payment delays (Net 30-90), deplatforming risk, high fees	Instant stablecoin payouts + debit card	KAST: 150+ countries, zero-fee spending
Crypto-native teams & DAOs	Stablecoin treasury but need fiat spend, corporate cards, payroll	Treasury management + corporate card program	Tria: $12M raised for self-custodial neobank infrastructure
Emerging market savers	Currency devaluation, limited banking, high remittance costs	Dollar-denominated accounts + local off-ramps	RedotPay: 6M users across 100+ countries
SMBs with international operations	SWIFT costs, FX markups, slow settlement, locked working capital	Stablecoin treasury + instant settlement + card spend	Growing segment

PM Decision Framework for Niche Selection:

1. Do we have domain expertise or network in this segment?
2. Is the pain point quantifiable and frequent (not occasional)?
3. Can we reach this audience through targeted channels (not mass marketing)?
4. Is the regulatory path tractable for this segment and geography?
5. Does the revenue model work at 5K-10K users (not just at millions)?

Implementation Timeline: Phased Roadmap

Here is a realistic phased approach. Use this as a starting point for your sprint planning:

Phase 1: Core Product (Weeks 1-6)

Goal: Users can create an account, hold stablecoins, and transfer to other users.

Work Stream	Tasks	Owner	Dependencies
Wallet integration	Integrate embedded wallet SDK (passkey auth, smart accounts)	Engineering	Vendor contract signed
Onboarding	Build onboarding flow with KYC integration	Engineering + Design	KYC vendor selected
Core features	Stablecoin balance display and P2P transfers	Engineering	Wallet integration complete
Infrastructure	Gas sponsorship setup, backend API, database	Engineering	Wallet vendor supports paymasters
Compliance	Sanctions screening, transaction monitoring setup	Engineering + Compliance	Monitoring vendor selected

Exit criteria: Users can sign up, pass KYC, receive stablecoins, and send to other users — with zero blockchain complexity visible.

Phase 2: Fiat Rails (Weeks 4-10)

Goal: Users can deposit and withdraw fiat currency.

Work Stream	Tasks	Owner	Dependencies
On/off ramp	Integrate fiat deposit and withdrawal provider	Engineering	On/off ramp vendor contract
Compliance	Enhanced monitoring, SAR workflow	Compliance + Engineering	Phase 1 monitoring in place
Operations	Admin dashboard, transaction notifications	Engineering	Phase 1 backend complete

Exit criteria: Users can fund their account from a bank account and withdraw to a bank account.

Phase 3: Card Program (Weeks 8-14)

Goal: Users can spend stablecoins at any merchant via virtual and physical cards.

Work Stream	Tasks	Owner	Dependencies
Card issuance	Integrate card provider, build card management UI	Engineering + Design	Card vendor contract (start early — longest lead time)
Mobile pay	Apple Pay / Google Pay enrollment	Engineering	Card integration complete
Revenue	Interchange tracking, revenue reporting	Engineering + Finance	Card program live

Exit criteria: Users can issue a virtual card, add to Apple/Google Pay, and spend at merchants.

Phase 4: Growth Features (Weeks 12-20)

Goal: Retention and expansion features.

Work Stream	Tasks	Owner
Multi-currency	Support additional stablecoins and currencies	Engineering
Automation	Scheduled/recurring transfers	Engineering + Design
Yield	Yield on idle balances	Engineering + Compliance + Legal
Growth	Referral program, spending insights	Product + Engineering + Design

Important note: These phases overlap. A focused team of 5-8 engineers can have Phase 1 in production by week 6 and a full-featured product by week 16-20.

PM Checklist — Timeline Planning:

• Card vendor discussions started in Week 1 (longest procurement lead time)?
• Legal counsel engaged before Phase 1 starts?
• KYC vendor selected and contract signed before engineering starts onboarding flow?
• Design started 2-4 weeks ahead of engineering on each phase?
• QA and security review planned before each phase launch?

Team Requirements: Who You Need

Minimum Viable Team (5-8 people)

Role	Count	Responsibilities
Product Manager	1	Scoping, prioritization, vendor management, stakeholder alignment
Backend Engineer	2-3	API server, database, vendor integrations, transaction logic
Mobile/Frontend Engineer	1-2	React Native app, web dashboard, onboarding flows
Designer	1	UX/UI design, user research, brand
Compliance/Legal	0.5-1 (can be external)	Regulatory strategy, KYC requirements, licensing

Stakeholder Map

As a PM, you are the hub connecting these stakeholders. Here is what each needs from you:

Stakeholder	What They Need	When to Engage
Engineering	Clear requirements, prioritized backlog, vendor API docs, defined integration contracts	From sprint 0 — involve in vendor evaluation
Legal/Compliance	Target geographies, custody model decision, stablecoin selection, user flow for KYC	Before any engineering starts — their inputs constrain your architecture
Design	User personas, competitive analysis, feature requirements, KYC/onboarding constraints	2-4 weeks ahead of engineering on each phase
Finance	Cost projections, revenue model, vendor pricing, runway analysis	During scoping — they validate your financial model
Operations	Support workflows, escalation paths, admin tool requirements	Before Phase 1 launch
Leadership	Progress updates, key decisions, risks, timeline	Weekly or bi-weekly

Vendor Evaluation Framework

Use this framework when evaluating any infrastructure vendor for your neobank:

Evaluation Criteria

Criteria	Questions to Ask	Weight
Coverage	Does it support our target geographies and currencies?	High
Compliance	What licenses does the vendor hold? What compliance burden shifts to us?	High
Integration effort	How long to integrate? What is the API quality? Is there SDK support?	High
Pricing	What is the fee structure? Per-transaction, subscription, or hybrid? At our projected volume?	High
Scalability	Can it handle our growth projections? What are throughput limits?	Medium
Support	What is the SLA? Is there dedicated support? What is the incident response process?	Medium
Lock-in risk	How portable is our integration? Can we switch providers later?	Medium
Track record	Who else uses this? What is their volume? Any public incidents?	Medium

PM Action Item: Create a vendor evaluation scorecard using these criteria. Score each vendor 1-5 on each criterion. Weight by importance. Review with engineering and legal before making final selections.

Lessons from Teams That Ship Successfully

At Openfort, we have worked with dozens of fintechs building stablecoin products. Here are the patterns we see in teams that ship successfully — framed as principles for PMs:

Start with wallets, not cards. The core value proposition is stablecoin accounts with instant transfers. Scope cards as Phase 3, not Phase 1. Cards add vendor complexity and procurement lead time that can delay your entire launch.

Sponsor all gas from day one. Any mention of gas fees in the user experience is a conversion killer. Budget for gas sponsorship as a cost of doing business, like Stripe processing fees. Work with finance to model this as a per-user operating cost.

Use passkeys for authentication. Passkeys (Face ID/Touch ID) deliver the best combination of security and UX. No passwords to forget, no seed phrases to lose. This is a non-negotiable UX decision.

Build for a specific community. The teams with the strongest traction serve a defined audience deeply rather than competing with Revolut for the mass market. Your niche selection is your most important product decision.

Compliance is not optional. Even in the stablecoin world, KYC/AML is required. Integrate it from day one, not as an afterthought. Loop in legal counsel before your first sprint.

Vendor contracts take longer than you think. Start procurement conversations in Week 1, especially for card issuance. A signed vendor contract is a dependency for engineering work, and enterprise sales cycles can delay your timeline.

Your Next Steps: The PM Kickoff Checklist

Use this checklist to prepare for your neobank build. Each item should be completed or in progress before engineering starts:

Week 1-2: Strategic Foundations

• Write the one-page brief (target user, geography, MVP scope, custody model, revenue model)
• Engage legal counsel with fintech/crypto expertise
• Begin vendor outreach for wallet infrastructure, on/off ramps, KYC, and card issuance
• Align leadership on budget range ($300K-800K for stablecoin stack)

Week 2-3: Technical Scoping

• Define custody model with legal input (recommend: non-custodial embedded wallets)
• Select blockchain network with engineering (recommend: Base for most use cases)
• Select stablecoin(s) with legal input (recommend: USDC as default)
• Evaluate and shortlist wallet infrastructure provider
• Evaluate and shortlist on/off ramp provider
• Evaluate and shortlist KYC provider

Week 3-4: Product Definition

• Define user personas and key user flows with design
• Create phased feature roadmap (Phase 1-4 as outlined above)
• Define KYC requirements and tiers with legal and compliance
• Scope admin dashboard requirements with operations
• Build financial model with finance

Week 4-5: Execution Setup

• Sign vendor contracts (wallet, KYC — minimum for Phase 1)
• Set up project tracking and sprint cadence
• Define success metrics for each phase (sign-up conversion, time to first transaction, etc.)
• Plan security review and audit process
• Begin Phase 1 engineering

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Building a neobank is more accessible than it has ever been. The infrastructure primitives exist. The regulatory frameworks are emerging. The market opportunity is real.

The question is not whether stablecoin-powered neobanks will exist — companies like Airtm, KAST, and RedotPay are already proving the model with millions of users. The question is which specific communities will get the best-designed financial products built for their needs.

Your job as a PM is to answer that question — to identify the right market, scope the right product, choose the right partners, and get your team executing.

If you are building a stablecoin fintech and need wallet infrastructure — embedded wallets, smart accounts, gas sponsorship, backend wallets — let's talk.