About

A brief history of Abetica™ Studios

Founded in 2006 by Daniel Stiel, Abetica Studios are creative project managers solving problems and driving innovation for clients in payments, AI, robotics, sUAS (drones), retailing, real estate, financial services, product development, marketing, branding, project management.

Deep bench experience in payments and risk-based financial services, working with leading issuers, networks, retailers, start-ups, and processors on product development & marketing, branding, consumer & business payment solutions.

Need help with a project? Do you have questions, comments or suggestions? We’d love to hear from you. Call Dan at (512) 887-8435.

Deliverables include:

• Project management – agile practitioner, resource/budget management, development, goal achievement
• Marketing – development and planning, execution, brand/market-oriented design and strategy
• Storytelling – design, brand development, ideation, directing, copywriting
• Digital Production – We help clients turn complex products into clear, intuitive, and trusted customer experiences. Our work includes user experience and interface design, digital product prototyping, payment-flow and onboarding design, mobile and web experiences, data visualization, brand systems, marketing creative, and sales-enablement materials—all developed with usability, security, compliance, and business performance in mind.

About Daniel Stiel

Dan Stiel is the founder and Managing Director of Abetica Studios, a fintech pioneer, product innovator, brand architect, and C-suite strategist with nearly five decades of experience in payments, banking, retail financial services, marketing, and creative project leadership.

During his career, Daniel has held senior marketing leadership and product-development roles with Xerox, Visa, Circle K, ConocoPhillips, Tosco Corporation, Union 76, First Interstate Bancorp, and Wells Fargo. Through his consulting and entrepreneurial ventures, he has also led projects for Citibank, GE, Motorola, Bank of America, DaimlerChrysler, key Walmart vendors, BP, Citgo, ConocoPhillips, and other Fortune 500 companies and start-ups across financial services, automotive, energy, retail, and technology.

Daniel has helped create, launch, market, and improve many of the payment products and services consumers and businesses now take for granted. His work has included the original launch of the Cirrus worldwide ATM network and Interlink PIN-debit network, launch of Visa Check Cards, commercial and fleet cards, private-label credit cards, prepaid and gift cards, payroll cards, check-cashing services, ATMs, self-service banking kiosks, mobile payments, mobile ordering, pay-at-the-pump systems, loyalty programs, and financial products designed for underserved consumers.

At Xerox, Daniel’s team supported a portfolio of more than 20 million prepaid debit cards and 90 public- and private-sector programs representing more than $75 billion in annual point-of-sale spending and ATM withdrawals. His marketing and behavioral strategies helped generate approximately $1.2 billion in annualized point-of-sale growth, improve card activation by 32 percent, increase mobile-app adoption to 42 percent, and reduce annual customer-service expenses by approximately $1.6 million.

Earlier in his career, Dan transformed a large outsourced ATM portfolio into a branded, self-managed network, deploying approximately 2,200 ATMs and increasing annual pretax earnings from $6.2 million to $17.4 million. He also helped build the business case for putting a Visa logo on an ATM card, upgrading more than 25,000 fuel dispensers with pay-at-the-pump technology, developed payment and financial-service programs across thousands of retail locations, and launched an instant-issue, co-branded prepaid Mastercard well before prepaid banking products became mainstream.

Dan’s core strengths include identifying unmet customer needs, developing differentiated value propositions, building compelling brands, creating financially sustainable business models, and guiding products from concept through launch and growth. His approach combines customer research, analytics, product strategy, risk management, marketing, creative direction, and disciplined project execution.

A graduate of the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, Dan holds a Bachelor of Science in Marketing and Finance. He is also a certified Project Management Professional, a California commercial real estate broker, an FAA Part 107-certificated drone pilot, and an adjunct professor teaching commercial photography and drone imaging.