Why We Do Not Sign an NDA
Our NDA Policy
Early-stage discussions often come with a request to sign a mutual non-disclosure agreement (NDA). We appreciate the impulse to protect sensitive information, but we don't sign NDAs as a matter of policy. Here's why, and what we do instead:
Why Mutual NDAs Don't Work for Our Model
- We work with many clients simultaneously: We maintain relationships with dozens of payment providers, banks, and MSBs. A strict mutual NDA would prevent us from sharing general knowledge and best practices across engagements, even when doing so would benefit you.
- We need to share information with partners: Part of our value is introducing you to correspondent banks, solution providers, and compliance consultants. An ironclad NDA would prevent those introductions, defeating the purpose of working with us.
- Training and knowledge-sharing: We train our team on lessons learned across engagements. An NDA would limit our ability to use general insights (anonymized, of course) to improve our team's capabilities.
- Regulatory compliance:** We may be required by law to share information with regulators, auditors, or law enforcement. An NDA that conflicts with these obligations puts us in an impossible position.
- Administrative burden: Reviewing and negotiating NDAs takes time and legal resources that we'd rather dedicate to your engagement itself.
How We Protect Your Information
Just because we don't sign NDAs doesn't mean we're loose with your data. Here's what we actually do:
- Confidentiality by default: We treat all client information as confidential. We don't publicize your business details, financial metrics, or compliance setup.
- Anonymization in case studies: If we share a lesson learned from your engagement (with your permission), we anonymize all identifying information so you're not recognizable.
- Internal access controls: Only authorized personnel working directly on your engagement see your sensitive information.
- Secure storage: Client files are stored securely with access restricted to relevant team members.
- No third-party marketing: We don't sell your data or use your information for marketing without explicit permission.
Solution Providers Do Sign NDAs
If you're concerned about disclosing sensitive details, remember: the solution providers and correspondent banks you'll work with (after we introduce you) absolutely will sign NDAs with you if you need them. Those bilateral relationships between you and a specific provider are appropriate places for formal confidentiality agreements.
We facilitate the introduction, but the direct relationships are between you and them—and those relationships can have whatever confidentiality terms you negotiate.
What We Need from You
In return, we ask that you:
- Share information honestly so we can give you good advice
- Don't assume we'll keep something in confidence if you explicitly label it that way—disclose that to us upfront so we can decide if we can help
- Don't ask us to hold back information from your banking partners or regulators—that's not appropriate and not something we'll do
If You Absolutely Need an NDA
If your corporate legal team or board requires an NDA before any conversation, we're happy to discuss it. But we'll likely decline rather than sign something that would hamstring our ability to do our job. It's a rare situation, but we've seen it before, and we're transparent about this limitation upfront rather than signing something we can't honor.