About Istimar

About Istimar
ABOUT ISTIMAR

Your Fintech Enablement Partner

We are an active member of Level 39 – one of Europe’s most influential tech ecosystems and a part of the Canary Wharf group – along with some of the most innovative and ambitious tech companies across FinTech, AI, Cybersecurity and more.

We are finance-first and infrastructure-enabled. The strategy, the judgement and the regulatory fluency are human. The rails, the integrations and the orchestration are technology-powered. Together they produce something neither can deliver alone: growth that’s both fast and compliant.

Rascim Khattak, CEO of Istimar

Rascim Khattak

Chief Executive Officer, Istimar

Rascim is a fintech founder and finance professional who has spent 15 years at the intersection of financial solutions, technology and venture building. He has built regulated fintech products hands-on, taking them from idea to market and navigating the licensing, rails, partners and commercialisation that every early-stage fintech faces.

He founded Bayfikr, a live remittance and bill-payments fintech platform, serving expats and immigrants. It gave him first-hand experience of taking a regulated financial product from concept to live users - and a deep understanding of the challenges faced by early-stage fintechs.

His background pairs this hands-on execution with deep financial expertise, including experience as an analyst in London asset management and years working alongside founders across London's startup ecosystem.

An MBA graduate of London Business School — with an MSc in Finance and Economics from Warwick and a BSc in Economics from Royal Holloway — Rascim combines institutional financial grounding with the instincts of a hands-on founder. It's this blend of finance, fintech and lived startup experience, rooted in the London ecosystem, that shapes Istimar's approach to helping modern fintechs launch, scale and grow.

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Comman Questions

Before you reach out

We respond to all enquiries within one working day — usually much sooner. If your fintech is on a live regulatory or launch deadline, note this in your message and we'll prioritise it.
That's the norm, not the exception. Tell us where you are — pre-launch, mid-build, or scaling — and we'll map your gaps across Strategy & Operating Architecture, Product & Infrastructure, and Financial Intelligence, then recommend where to start.
Yes. Engagements run remotely and our partner network spans sponsor banks, BaaS providers and in-country operators across multiple markets, so we can support licensing and go-to-market work wherever you're building.
Yes. Our MSB, EMI and sponsor-bank structuring frameworks are reviewed on a rolling basis against current regulatory requirements. Note: Istimar provides business, operational and technology consulting — not regulated financial, legal or investment advice.
Pricing depends on scope — a single pillar (say, rails & BaaS selection) versus a full strategy-through-infrastructure build. Talk to us about your stage and we'll walk you through the options during the initial call.
Yes. Engagements are covered by NDA by default, and unit-economics, treasury and risk data you share is used only to build your models — never shared with partners or third parties without your consent.