Payments Training Hub
Roadmap: plan shows major features PAYMENT OPERATIONS STARTED LIVE 01 Roadmap - changes for a product over the next twelve ACTIVE 02 Prioritisation - because every request sounds urgent QUEUED 03 Stakeholders in a payment product - include the customers who use it QUEUED 04 Managing a difficult stakeholder - starts with understanding what they really QUEUED 05 Roadmap review meeting - where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED A roadmap is a plan that shows the major features and changes for a product over the next twelve to eighteen months, grouped by quarter. Step 1 of 5 Roadmap: plan shows major features STARTED Roadmap changes for a product over the next twelve ACTIVE Prioritisation because every request sounds urgent QUEUED Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it QUEUED Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really QUEUED Roadmap review meeting where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED A roadmap is a plan that shows the major features and changes for a product over the next twelve to eighteen months, grouped by quarter.
Prioritisation: hardest part of job PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Roadmap - changes for a product over the next twelve DONE 02 Prioritisation - because every request sounds urgent ACTIVE 03 Stakeholders in a payment product - include the customers who use it QUEUED 04 Managing a difficult stakeholder - starts with understanding what they really QUEUED 05 Roadmap review meeting - where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED Prioritisation is the hardest part of the job, because every request sounds urgent to the person who made it. Step 2 of 5 Prioritisation: hardest part of job IN PROGRESS Roadmap changes for a product over the next twelve DONE Prioritisation because every request sounds urgent ACTIVE Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it QUEUED Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really QUEUED Roadmap review meeting where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED Prioritisation is the hardest part of the job, because every request sounds urgent to the person who made it.
Stakeholders in a payment product PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Roadmap - changes for a product over the next twelve DONE 02 Prioritisation - because every request sounds urgent DONE 03 Stakeholders in a payment product - include the customers who use it ACTIVE 04 Managing a difficult stakeholder - starts with understanding what they really QUEUED 05 Roadmap review meeting - where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it Step 3 of 5 Stakeholders in a payment product IN PROGRESS Roadmap changes for a product over the next twelve DONE Prioritisation because every request sounds urgent DONE Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it ACTIVE Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really QUEUED Roadmap review meeting where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it
Managing a difficult stakeholder PAYMENT OPERATIONS IN PROGRESS LIVE 01 Roadmap - changes for a product over the next twelve DONE 02 Prioritisation - because every request sounds urgent DONE 03 Stakeholders in a payment product - include the customers who use it DONE 04 Managing a difficult stakeholder - starts with understanding what they really ACTIVE 05 Roadmap review meeting - where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really need, which is often different from what they ask for. Step 4 of 5 Managing a difficult stakeholder IN PROGRESS Roadmap changes for a product over the next twelve DONE Prioritisation because every request sounds urgent DONE Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it DONE Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really ACTIVE Roadmap review meeting where the plan is tested and agreed. QUEUED Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really need, which is often different from what they ask for.
Roadmap review meeting PAYMENT OPERATIONS COMPLETE LIVE 01 Roadmap - changes for a product over the next twelve DONE 02 Prioritisation - because every request sounds urgent DONE 03 Stakeholders in a payment product - include the customers who use it DONE 04 Managing a difficult stakeholder - starts with understanding what they really DONE 05 Roadmap review meeting - where the plan is tested and agreed. ACTIVE A roadmap review meeting is where the plan is tested and agreed. Step 5 of 5 Roadmap review meeting COMPLETE Roadmap changes for a product over the next twelve DONE Prioritisation because every request sounds urgent DONE Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it DONE Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really DONE Roadmap review meeting where the plan is tested and agreed. ACTIVE A roadmap review meeting is where the plan is tested and agreed.

Key points of this lesson, in order.

0:00 / 3:34 Step 1 of 5

Roadmaps, Prioritisation and Stakeholder Management

Payment Product Management, Lesson 5 of 7, Narration 3:34, D14 Business analysis and professional practice

ExceptionQueueDEBT

What you will learn

Your objective. By the end of this lesson, you will be able to explain roadmaps, prioritisation and stakeholder management. A roadmap is a plan that shows the major features and changes for a product over the next twelve to eighteen months, grouped by quarter.

Why it matters. Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it, the sales team who sells it, the operations team who runs it, the risk team who approves it, the technology team who builds it and the senior executives who fund it.

Chapter objective: Learner applies product management to payments, defining a product vision, roadmap, metrics, and pricing, and writes a product brief for a new payment feature. Learner practises this skill on realistic banking cases, explaining the reasoning clearly and using correct terminology throughout the work.

Key learning points

  • Roadmap: plan shows major features
  • Prioritisation: hardest part of job
  • Stakeholders in a payment product
  • Managing a difficult stakeholder
  • Roadmap review meeting

Key terms

Exception: A payment that cannot be processed normally and needs manual handling, investigation or repair. Exceptions arise from missing data, failed screening, account errors or system faults.

Queue: A holding area in a payment system where payments wait for sufficient funds or for their turn to settle.

DEBT: A charge bearer code in ISO 20022 meaning the debtor pays all charges for the payment. The debtor agent deducts charges from the debtor account or adds them to the amount, and no charges are deducted...

Clearing and settlement timeline showing Roadmaps, Prioritisation and Stakeholder Management.

Insights and practice scenarios

Worked insights and practice scenarios for this lesson. Each one is a reusable PaymentForge case, so the same case may appear in more than one lesson.

Practise this lesson

Exercise

Apply the concept in this lesson to a real banking scenario.

Use the definition, the example and the key points in this lesson.

  1. What to do. Explain the concept in your own words, give a banking example with an amount, and state what goes wrong if it is misunderstood.

Correct result. A correct answer names the concept accurately, uses a realistic banking example with a concrete amount, and identifies the consequence of getting it wrong.

Why. Understanding is not memorising a definition. It is being able to explain it, apply it, and spot the failure it prevents.

Check your understanding

Practice question

Which of the following best describes roadmaps, prioritisation and stakeholder management?

Takeaway and next step

What to remember

A roadmap that is not communicated is only a private wish list.

Map the message fields from this lesson in the mapping workbench.

Open the Mapping Workbench →

Builds on "SLAs, KPIs and Measuring Product Health".

Transcript and full text

Show transcript

A roadmap is a plan that shows the major features and changes for a product over the next twelve to eighteen months, grouped by quarter. It is not a detailed project plan, but a statement of intent that helps the bank plan investment and helps customers plan their own changes. A roadmap for an instant payment product might show confirmation of payee in the first quarter, recurring payments in the second quarter, bulk instant payments in the third quarter and an API for software partners in the fourth quarter. Each item on the roadmap has an owner, an estimated cost and a measure of success, so the bank can see what it is buying. The roadmap is reviewed every quarter, because priorities change as customers, competitors and regulators move. Prioritisation is the hardest part of the job, because every request sounds urgent to the person who made it. The manager uses a scoring model that weighs the value to the customer, the revenue impact, the strategic fit and the cost to build. A feature that will earn 2 million pounds a year and cost 300,000 pounds to build scores higher than a feature that will earn 200,000 pounds and cost 500,000 pounds to build. The manager also considers risk, because a feature that fixes a regulatory gap must be built even if it earns no revenue. A common method is to score each idea from one to five on value, revenue, risk and effort, and to rank the ideas by total score. The ranking is then discussed openly, so stakeholders can see why their request is third and not first. Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it, the sales team who sells it, the operations team who runs it, the risk team who approves it, the technology team who builds it and the senior executives who fund it. Each group has different concerns. Sales wants a feature that will win a deal this quarter, operations wants a feature that will reduce the exception queue, risk wants a feature that will reduce fraud, and technology wants time to fix technical debt. The manager must listen to all of them, explain the trade offs honestly, and make a decision that serves the product as a whole rather than one group. A manager who says yes to everyone will deliver nothing well. Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really need, which is often different from what they ask for. A sales director who demands a new currency by next month may really need a way to win a customer who trades in that currency, and a simpler solution such as a correspondent bank arrangement may solve the problem faster. The manager meets the stakeholder, listens to the underlying need, shares the data on cost and effort, and offers a realistic date or an alternative. The manager also keeps stakeholders informed with a short monthly update, so they hear about delays from the manager rather than from a customer. Trust is built by delivering on small promises consistently, not by making large promises that cannot be kept. A roadmap review meeting is where the plan is tested and agreed. The manager presents the proposed roadmap, the scoring behind it and the trade offs that were made, and invites challenge from each stakeholder group. A technology lead may point out that a feature needs six months rather than three, and the roadmap is adjusted. A risk manager may point out that a new feature needs a fraud review, and a milestone is added. The meeting ends with a signed off roadmap that everyone understands, even if not everyone agrees with every choice. The manager then publishes the roadmap internally, so sales can talk to customers with confidence and technology can plan its resourcing. A roadmap that is not communicated is only a private wish list.

A roadmap is a plan that shows the major features and changes for a product over the next twelve to eighteen months, grouped by quarter. It is not a detailed project plan, but a statement of intent that helps the bank plan investment and helps customers plan their own changes. A roadmap for an instant payment product might show confirmation of payee in the first quarter, recurring payments in the second quarter, bulk instant payments in the third quarter and an API for software partners in the fourth quarter. Each item on the roadmap has an owner, an estimated cost and a measure of success, so the bank can see what it is buying. The roadmap is reviewed every quarter, because priorities change as customers, competitors and regulators move.

Prioritisation is the hardest part of the job, because every request sounds urgent to the person who made it. The manager uses a scoring model that weighs the value to the customer, the revenue impact, the strategic fit and the cost to build. A feature that will earn 2 million pounds a year and cost 300,000 pounds to build scores higher than a feature that will earn 200,000 pounds and cost 500,000 pounds to build. The manager also considers risk, because a feature that fixes a regulatory gap must be built even if it earns no revenue. A common method is to score each idea from one to five on value, revenue, risk and effort, and to rank the ideas by total score. The ranking is then discussed openly, so stakeholders can see why their request is third and not first.

Stakeholders in a payment product include the customers who use it, the sales team who sells it, the operations team who runs it, the risk team who approves it, the technology team who builds it and the senior executives who fund it. Each group has different concerns. Sales wants a feature that will win a deal this quarter, operations wants a feature that will reduce the exception queue, risk wants a feature that will reduce fraud, and technology wants time to fix technical debt. The manager must listen to all of them, explain the trade offs honestly, and make a decision that serves the product as a whole rather than one group. A manager who says yes to everyone will deliver nothing well.

Managing a difficult stakeholder starts with understanding what they really need, which is often different from what they ask for. A sales director who demands a new currency by next month may really need a way to win a customer who trades in that currency, and a simpler solution such as a correspondent bank arrangement may solve the problem faster. The manager meets the stakeholder, listens to the underlying need, shares the data on cost and effort, and offers a realistic date or an alternative. The manager also keeps stakeholders informed with a short monthly update, so they hear about delays from the manager rather than from a customer. Trust is built by delivering on small promises consistently, not by making large promises that cannot be kept.

A roadmap review meeting is where the plan is tested and agreed. The manager presents the proposed roadmap, the scoring behind it and the trade offs that were made, and invites challenge from each stakeholder group. A technology lead may point out that a feature needs six months rather than three, and the roadmap is adjusted. A risk manager may point out that a new feature needs a fraud review, and a milestone is added. The meeting ends with a signed off roadmap that everyone understands, even if not everyone agrees with every choice. The manager then publishes the roadmap internally, so sales can talk to customers with confidence and technology can plan its resourcing. A roadmap that is not communicated is only a private wish list.

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