Forest Stewardship Council partners with PaymentGenes for global payments solution

The Forest Stewardship Council is a leading international non-profit dedicated to sustainable forestry. The council certifies forests and timber supply chains, ensuring environmental and social responsibility, and serves over 5,000 organizations globally, including businesses in North America, Europe and Asia.

Before the collaboration with PaymentGenes, the Forest Stewardship Council (a registered trademark) was in a phase of exploring how to leverage its unique position in the ecosystem to drive value creation, evolving from a certification-focused entity to a digital product organization.

New offerings include online education, blockchain-based registry access for supply chain traceability and compliance tools aligned with EU regulations.

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) operates in a complex, multi-stakeholder environment, engaging with businesses, governments, and Indigenous communities. Given its lean internal resources, it seeks partners who align with its sustainability values, offer scalable solutions, and minimize operational overhead.

The backdrop for the collaboration

In this context, FSC aimed to launch direct-to-client digital services, bypassing its traditional member-based distribution model, to enhance market reach and revenue.

This required a global B2B payment solution to support online sales across primary markets (North America, Europe, China) and secondary markets (parts of APAC, LATAM, and Africa). The challenges were multifaceted:

• B2B payment complexity: B2B payments involve intricate processes, such as multi-currency invoicing, and reconciliation, as well as diverse payment methods (cards, bank transfers, digital wallets). Moreover, regional digitization disparities added complexity
• Regulatory compliance: Local regulations, including AML, GDPR and tax compliance, prevented a one-size-fits-all solution. FSC needed a provider to handle global tax management and liability, particularly in key markets
• Resource constraints: FSC’s transition to a digital organization strained its operational capacity.
• Localization needs: The solution had to support local payment preferences (e.g. SEPA Direct Debit in Europe, AliPay in China) while maintaining a unified global platform
• Time-to-Market: FSC targeted a go-live in a short timefram, requiring a swift vendor selection process amidst a complex vendor landscape

The ultimate rationale for the collaboration with PaymentGenes was to identify and select payment provider(s) that support FSC’s global scaling ambitions by assessing requirements, designing a solution architecture, mapping potential vendors and preparing a structured RFP process.

Scope of work

FSC partnered with PaymentGenes to design and execute a global B2B payment strategy. The collaboration was structured to address FSC’s unique needs through a rigorous, data-driven approach:

Stakeholder engagement and needs assessment:

• Conducted workshops with FSC’s global teams, incl. finance, IT and operations to map pain points (e.g. manual invoicing processes, lack of real-time transaction reporting)
• Identified eight key requirement areas for further focus: payment processing, payment methods, billing/invoicing, reporting/analytics, security/compliance, integration (e.g., SAP, MS Dynamics), operations/support, and global tax management
• Engaged external stakeholders, such as clients and regional partners, to understand local payment preferences and compliance needs

Market research and vendor landscape scan:

• Analyzed B2B payment trends, highlighting the complexity of B2B transactions compared to B2C, regional digitization gaps, and explored the pros and cons of relying on generalist vs specialist Payment Service Providers (PSPs) – incl. Cost/ benefit analysis
• Evaluated three solution scenarios: full-service PSP, Merchant of Record (MOR), and orchestration for transaction optimization. The MoR model was prioritized for its ability to reduce operational load and financial risk
• Conducted a comprehensive vendor review, creating a longlist and shortlisting seven providers. Criteria for selection included geographic coverage, MoR capabilities, ERP integration, fraud prevention and experience with NGOs

Vendor assessment:

• Assessed vendors based on FSC’s requirements.
• Evaluated cultural fit, prioritizing providers with clear sustainability commitments

RFP process design:

• Developed a structured RFP process to ensure vendor alignment with FSC’s goals. Key steps included drafting a shortlist agreement, RFP issuance, vendor alignment and support, and partner selection
• Created an RFP toolkit with a detailed questionnaire, scoring model
• Weighted criteria for localization, compliance and support), and a draft invitation letter emphasizing FSC’s sustainability mission and need for a strategic partner
• Recommended a dedicated payments SME to support FSC through vendor negotiations and solution design

Strategic recommendation:

• Advocated for an Merchant of Record (MoR) model to enable rapid market entry, contain resource demands and mitigate risks. Suggested exploring dedicated MoR providers or PSPs with MoR capabilities
• Highlighted the trade-off of higher MoR costs against FSC’s growth-stage margins and the need for operational simplicity

Deliverables

The project delivered a comprehensive set of outputs to guide FSC’s payment strategy:

Market research report:

• Detailed B2B payment trends, including regional digitization challenges and the need for localized solutions
• Outlined three solution scenarios (PSP, MoR, orchestration) with pros and cons, recommending MoR for FSC’s needs
• Included a vendor longlist and shortlist analysis, with one-pagers for seven providers detailing geographic coverage, product offerings, and cultural fit

Needs Assessment Report:

• Summarized stakeholder input, identifying pain points like manual reconciliation, limited multi-currency support, and compliance gaps
• Specified eight requirement categories, such as real-time analytics, ERP integration and fraud prevention, tailored to FSC’s global operations

RFP Toolkit:

• Requirements documentation: Comprehensive list of technical and business needs, including localization for North America, Europe, and China, and integration with CRM/ERP systems
• Questionnaire: Covered vendor capabilities in payment methods, tax compliance, fraud mitigation and support SLAs.
• Scoring model: Weighted criteria to evaluate vendors objectively

Recommendation Report:

• Proposed the MoR model as the optimal solution, balancing speed, scalability and risk mitigation
• Shortlisted seven vendors, with detailed evaluations

Implementation roadmap:

• Outlined milestones across for strategy and planning, vendor selection, and go-live
• Key activities included stakeholder alignment, localization refinement and kick-off with the selected vendor(s)

Impact

The collaboration with PaymentGenes underscores FSC’s commitment to innovation and sustainability, resulting in a tailored, scalable payment solution for its global ambitions. In particular, this strategic partnership delivered the following value to The Forest Stewardship Council:

• Comprehensive market insight: FSC gained a thorough understanding of B2B payment complexities, vendor capabilities, and solution trade-offs, enabling data-driven decisions
• Streamlined vendor selection: The structured RFP process, with a clear timeline and robust toolkit, ensured alignment with FSC’s sustainability and operational goals, targeting a swift launch
• Scalable, future-proof solution: The MoR model minimized operational and financial risks, supporting FSC’s digital transformation with a platform capable of handling diverse payment methods and compliance needs across 190+ countries
• Operational efficiency: By outsourcing key payment functions (e.g., invoicing, tax management), FSC reduced resource strain, allowing focus on core sustainability initiatives
• Strategic alignment: The solution enabled FSC to serve clients directly, enhancing its market position and supporting over 5,000 organizations with sustainable services like blockchain-based traceability and online education