For those who ideally worked or are currently working in VCA (especially ex-consultants), any advice on how to set myself up for success in the client consulting position within VCA - coming from a strategy consulting background? Thank you.
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Hi there,
Coming from a strategy consulting background, you’re actually very well positioned for VCA — the main shift is from broad strategy to more data-driven, payments-focused problem solving.
What tends to set people up for success there is quickly getting comfortable with:
- Payments ecosystem basics (issuers, acquirers, networks, merchants)
- Working with data and translating it into client insights
- Being practical and implementation-oriented, not just high-level strategy
Compared to MBB, the work is often more grounded in real transaction data, so your ability to turn analysis into clear, actionable recommendations becomes even more important. Also, stakeholder management is key — clients expect you to not only advise but help drive execution.
I’ve helped a couple of candidates get through the VCA process, so happy to help you prep or think through how to position yourself — feel free to reach out.
Best
Evelina
That's a great question, and your strategy consulting background is a powerful asset for VCA. Many ex-consultants thrive there, but there are a few nuances to be aware of.
The biggest shift you'll experience is the depth of specialization and the direct connection to product and data. While strategy consulting often deals with broader industry challenges, VCA is laser-focused on leveraging Visa's unique data sets, products, and insights to drive tangible value for clients within the payments ecosystem. Your challenge will be translating your high-level strategic thinking into actionable, data-driven recommendations that explicitly utilize Visa's capabilities.
To set yourself up for success, immerse yourself in Visa's core products (issuing, acquiring, digital solutions), understand how VCA's proprietary data is used to generate specific insights, and quickly build strong internal networks. Connect with product, sales, and regional teams to understand their priorities and how VCA can best complement their efforts. The more you understand the "pipes" and the internal landscape, the better you'll be able to land impactful client work.
All the best with the transition!
That's a great question.
I'll share two guides I've written on this topic below.
But on top of that, I recommend you reach out to current Visa consultants and have a chat with them about this. I'm sure many of them will be willing to share their experience.
Expert Guide: How to Become A Distinctive Consultant
Expert Guide: How to Manage for Lifestyle in Consulting
Best,
Cristian
Hi there,
Really great question!
MOST IMPORTANTLY: Know that no-one can perfectly prepare for the job and that's the point: You will mess up, you will learn, you will be trained and supported. That's OK!
First: Read the 25 tips in my consulting handbook here: https://www.spencertom.com/2018/01/14/consulting-survival-guide/
Second: Attend an academy. There are so many great training programs that prepare new graduates for the consulting world! I'm part of a few myself. Feel free to shoot me a message and I can point you in the right direction!
Third: In terms of things you can learn/do to prepare beforehand:
1) Daily Reading — The Economist, The Financial Times, BCG/McKinsey Insights
2) Industry deep-dives — Learn, in-depth, how the industries/companies your office advises, work. (PM me for an industry overview template)
3) Analytics tools — Alteryx, Tableau, etc.
4) Excel: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/free-online-resources-to-learn-excel-basics-6946
— Pivot tables, working with data, key functions (vlookup, index match, count and sum if/ifs, sumproduct, concat, etc.), hotkeys, financial modeling
5) PowerPoint: https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/powerpoint-skills-4072
— Wireframing, lead-in titles, best practices/standards, different layouts, quickly editing/updating slides, thinking in PowerPoint
6) Presentation skills / sharp communication — there are some great online/virtual classes for this (including the academies mentioned above)
Fourth: In terms of doing well in your role when you're there:
1) Understand the context/prompt (what role are you in, what company, who's watching, etc.)
2) Understand the objective (what, specifically, is expected from you... both day to day, and in your overall career progression)
3) Quickly process information, and focus on what's important — take a lot of information and the unknown, find the most logical path, and focus on that.
4) Be comfortable with the unknown, and learn to brainstorm — think/speak like an expert without being one
In summary, there will always be a flood of information, expectations, competition etc. and not enough time. Find out which ones matter when. (i.e. be visible and focus efforts on the things that people care about)
Fifth: Here are some great prior Q&As for you!
https://www.preplounge.com/en/consulting-forum/how-hard-is-it-to-excel-in-top-consulting-firms-6762
Hi,
From my experience coaching candidates and working in the payments industry (I currently work at Mastercard), I can tell you that transitioning from strategy consulting into a client-facing consulting role within VCA is absolutely a natural move — but there are a few nuances that make the difference in succeeding quickly.
First, the core consulting toolkit you already have (structured problem solving, stakeholder management, storytelling) is directly transferable. Where I typically see candidates needing to adapt is in shifting from a purely advisory mindset to a more execution- and client-impact-driven approach. In VCA, clients expect not only recommendations, but also practical, implementable solutions tied closely to Mastercard’s products and capabilities.
Second, developing a strong understanding of the payments ecosystem is critical. This includes how issuers, acquirers, schemes, and fintechs interact, as well as the economics behind card programs. The faster you build this industry intuition, the more credible and impactful you’ll be with clients.
Third, internal navigation matters more than in traditional consulting firms. Success in VCA often depends on how effectively you leverage internal stakeholders (product teams, account managers, data teams) to deliver value to clients. Knowing “who to call for what” is a real accelerator.
Finally, commercial awareness is key. Unlike traditional consulting, your work is closely linked to broader business objectives (e.g., driving volume, enabling product adoption, strengthening client relationships). Keeping this lens in mind will help you stand out early.
While my direct experience is with Mastercard, I have no doubt that the dynamics and expectations are very similar at Visa as well — the underlying model of combining consulting with a payments business is fundamentally the same.
If you want to go deeper on how to position your background, prepare for interviews, or ramp up quickly once in the role, feel free to reach out — this is exactly the kind of transition I help candidates navigate as a coach.
I haven't worked inside VCA directly, but I have coached candidates into it and worked with clients in financial services strategy, so I can offer a perspective.
VCA is different from strategy consulting in a few important ways.
First, you are not a neutral advisor. Visa has a commercial interest in the outcome, and your clients know that. The consultants who do well are honest about where Visa's data gives them an edge and where it does not. Pretending to be fully objective when you are not kills trust quickly.
Second, your clients are banks and fintechs. They have smart people internally. They do not need frameworks explained to them. What they need is Visa's transaction data translated into a specific decision they can act on. That is your real value, not the consulting methodology.
Third, this is relationship work, not project work. You are covering the same accounts over time, so reliability and honesty matter more than any single brilliant analysis.
Last thing: be genuinely curious about payments as an industry. Not just as a consulting engagement, but as a space you actually want to understand. That curiosity comes through, and clients notice it.
hey there :)
in Visa VCA the biggest shift vs strategy consulting is being more practical and client-embedded so focus on turning insights into implementable actions, not just slides
build strong relationships early with clients and internal stakeholders, VCA is more long-term and less “project based” than MBB
also get comfortable with payments data and analytics, that’s where you can really stand out vs other ex-consultants
if you combine structured thinking with hands-on delivery, you’ll do very well
happy to dive deeper if you want
best,
Alessa :)
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