The financial services market is currently undergoing tremendous change, due to the twin influences of developments in the field of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and changes in the legislation determining how banks will be allowed to operate after 1992. Describes research whose objective was to evaluate the viability of introducing a new service to handle cross‐border payments, undertaken for a large multinational bank, and focused on respondents from a variety of firms within the European Community. Uses a combination of a PC‐based judgemental modelling package and in‐depth interviews to develop a clear understanding of the needs of both the originators′ and the vendors′ requirements. Although based on a relatively small sample, the detailed findings permit development of an effective approach to segmenting the market for the particular service.