Job Description

The Card & Payments Specialist is responsible for managing and optimizing the Bank's card and payment products within the Alliance Banking environment. This includes overseeing BIN and account class configuration, ensuring compliance with payment scheme and regulatory standards, managing settlement operations, maintaining partner relationships, and driving product improvements. The role directly supports revenue growth, operational efficiency, and risk mitigation.

Requirements

Card Product Enablement:

Manage end-to-end card issuance processes (virtual and physical) across alliance partners. Support card configuration, BIN sponsorship, branding, and operational onboarding activities. Ensure alignment with bank card strategy and scheme compliance (e.g., Visa, Mastercard).

Operational Oversight:

Monitor card transaction volumes, activation rates, and operational SLAs (e.g., delivery, PIN management, disputes). Coordinate with Operations and IT to resolve card-related incidents or partner queries.

Risk and Compliance Controls:

Ensure all card-related processes meet regulatory, fraud, and anti-money laundering controls. Collaborate with Fraud, Risk, and Compliance teams on suspicious activity monitoring and card blocking protocols.

Partner Enablement and Support:

Design and maintain end-to-end payment workflows across alliance partner use cases (e.g., EFTs, debit orders, real-time payments, digital wallets). Align payments architecture with the bank's strategic roadmap, regulatory environment, and fintech integration capabilities. Support the enablement of new payment channels, schemes (e.g., RTC, DebiCheck, PayShap), and digital rails in partner environments.

Payments Architecture and Product Enablement:

Design and maintain end-to-end payment workflows across alliance partner use cases (e.g., EFTs, debit orders, real-time payments, digital wallets). Align payments architecture with the bank's strategic roadmap, regulatory environment, and fintech integration capabilities. Support the enablement of new payment channels, schemes (e.g., RTC, DebiCheck, PayShap), and digital rails in partner environments.

Operational Execution and Issue Resolution:

Monitor the performance of payment services (e.g., success rates, delays, reversals) across partner channels. Coordinate with internal teams and alliance partners to troubleshoot failed transactions, delays, or reconciliation issues. Maintain a payment incident log and ensure resolution within SLA and compliance timelines.

Partner Support and Enablement:

Serve as the subject matter expert (SME) on payments for alliance partners and internal stakeholders. Oversee SLA compliance and performance reviews for processors and vendors; address service issues to ensure agreed standards are met. Train partners on payment file formats, cut-off times, dispute handling, and transaction life cycles. Provide operational guidance on onboarding, recurring billing, refunds, and bulk payment solutions.

Payments Innovation and Optimisation

Identify opportunities to improve payment efficiency, reduce costs, and introduce innovative solutions (e.g., QR payments, tokenised payments). Conduct benchmarking of payment capabilities against market and partner needs. Collaborate with Product and IT to design enhancements and future payment features.

Data Analysis and Reporting:

Analyse payment trends, transaction volumes, rejection rates, and exception reports. Develop dashboards and MI reports to inform governance, product decisions, and partner reviews. Collaborate with finance and reconciliation teams to ensure alignment of payment data across systems.

Risk Management Controls:

Monitor operational, settlement, and fraud risks associated with payment processing. Validate that internal and partner payment controls (e.g., dual authorisations, limits, validations) are operating effectively. Escalate material payment risks or anomalies to Risk, Fraud, or Compliance functions.

All appointments will be made in line with Access Bank's Employment Equity plan. The Bank supports the recruitment and advancement of individuals living with disabilities. In order for us to fulfill this purpose, candidates can disclose their disability information on a voluntary basis. The Bank will keep this information confidential unless we are required by law to disclose this information to other parties.

Employees who apply and do not hear from HR within 30 days of the closing date may assume that their application was not successful, and we thank you for applying.

Benefits

Medical Aid Provident Fund Group Life Cover Income Disability Cover Funeral Cover * Training & Development