Head Product Risk and Assurance Cards and Payments

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With over 100 years of rich history and strongly positioned as a local bank with regional and international expertise, a career with our family offers the opportunity to be part of this exciting growth journey, to reset our future and shape our destiny as a proudly African group.

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Job SummaryThe role is responsible for end-to-end risk management, governance, and revenue assurance across the issuing of cards, merchant acquiring business, and digital payments. The position focuses on driving a robust control environment, overseeing fraud and chargeback processes, ensuring policy compliance, managing merchant risk, and identifying revenue leakage across card and digital payment products.

Job Description

Risk and Controls

Develop and maintain risk frameworks covering card issuing, acquiring, and digital payments.

Assess financial and fraud risk while onboarding new merchants

Ensure that we are compliant with the relevant Schemes (e.g., Visa, Mastercard, UPI, etc.).

Be compliant with the Bank of Mauritius

Ensure all product reviews and CPAs are completed within the timeline

Control and Governance to be always on top of the agenda

Build and monitor a strategy that balances fraud mitigation with customer experience, determine customer communication strategies, analyse data, and tweak strategies to minimise false positives.

To contribute to the overall Cards & Payments Business strategy

Ensure that we have appropriate processes and controls to mitigate any risk of fraud, revenue leakage and Operational Risks

Ensure that Card Scheme penalties are kept within the Bank’s appetite

Merchant Risk Management

Underwrite high-risk merchants, monitor transaction activity and velocity controls.

Manage onboarding governance, risk tiering, and credit exposure.

Review ongoing merchant performance to identify early warning indicators.

Revenue and Cost Assurance

Identify and execute cost-saving opportunities for the Cards Business.

Conduct end-to-end reviews to identify revenue leakage across pricing, settlement, interchange, and fees.

Validate system configurations, billing accuracy, and merchant fee recovery.

Ensure the accuracy of suppliers’ and schemes' billing.

Governance & Reporting

Own policy documentation, risk & control assessments, and compliance attestations.

Prepare governance packs for senior management, regulators, and internal audit.

Drive periodic forums on fraud, revenue performance, and control updates.

Teamwork

Ability to work in a team

Support colleagues where required with a view to having an impact on overall performance

Conduct filing activities where required

Upskilling & sharing knowledge with other peers

Mandatory Risk and Control objective

Ensure that all activities and duties are carried out in full compliance with regulatory requirements, Enterprise Wide Risk Management Framework and internal ABSA Policies and Policy Standards. Understand and manage risks and risk events (incidents) relevant to the role.

Education

Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

R-15978380