Card Product Manager job at Absa Bank

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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 Summary

Own and grow the card portfolio across issuing and acquiring, with a specific mandate to build and scale E-commerce acquiring revenues and oversee Own and grow the card portfolio across issuing and acquiring, with a specific mandate to build and scale E commerce acquiring revenues and oversee issuing operations (governance, risk, scheme, and vendor management). The role blends product management, commercial growth, and business development, ensuring profitability, compliance, and superior customer experience.

Job Description

Card Issuing – Product Ownership & Oversight

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle for Debit, Credit, Prepaid, Virtual, and Premium/Affluent cards.
• Lead card materials strategy (PVC, recycled PVC, metal, contactless, tokenization, NFC wearables).
• Oversee operations & governance for issuing:
  • Personalization/bureau performance, embossing, PIN, fulfillment SLAs.
  • EMV, contactless, tokenization, 3‑D Secure for CNP protection.
  • Chargebacks & disputes governance; fraud loss thresholds.
  • Scheme compliance (Visa/Mastercard) and BoU regulatory adherence.
• Portfolio performance management:
  • Activation, usage/spend, attrition, cost‑to‑serve, interchange and fee income.
  • Lead change initiatives: product refreshes, design updates, card migrations, BIN management.

Card Acquiring – Product Support & Commercial Enablement

• Support merchant acquiring across POS, E‑commerce, and QR:
  • Pricing & MDR strategies, interchange optimization, and cost recovery.
  • Merchant value propositions: settlements, reports, chargeback support, fraud tools.

E-commerce Business Development (Primary Growth Mandate)

• Build and execute E‑commerce GTM plan:
  • Target segments: airlines, travel, education, utilities, Fintechs, marketplaces, SaaS/billers, gov’t collections.
  • Create sector‑specific propositions (recurring billing, token vault, pay‑by‑link, subscriptions).
  • Own the sales pipeline: prospecting, solutioning with tech/vendors, pricing, commercial negotiation, contracting.
• Champion developer & partner enablement:
  • API/SDK readiness, sandbox support, documentation, and integration playbooks.
  • Ecosystem partnerships (PSPs, Payment Gateways, ERP/website builders).
• Drive conversion and fraud performance:
  • 3‑D Secure optimization, risk rules tuning, velocity controls, negative lists.
  • Balance SCA with UX; minimize false declines.
  • Launch and scale alternate payment methods (QR, mobile money via card rails where applicable, tokenized wallets).

Vendor, Scheme & Regulatory Management

• Manage card and e‑commerce vendors (bureaus, gateways, fraud tools, tokenization, CMS, switch).
• Govern SLAs, pricing, and service credits; run QBRs.
• Serve as key contact for Visa/Mastercard/UPI on product approvals, audits, and incentives.
• Ensure BoU and Absa Group policy compliance (AML/CFT, data privacy, conduct).

Financial & Commercial Accountability

• Deliver P&L outcomes across issuing and acquiring drivers:
  • Interchange, MDR, fee income (issuance, replacement, statements), scheme incentives.
  • Cost lines: plastics, personalization, scheme fees, fraud losses, dispute handling, vendor OPEX.
  • Build business cases and secure approvals for new products, pricing changes, and capex/opex.
• Any other duties that maybe assigned to you from time to time by the Bank.

• Own the end-to-end lifecycle for Debit, Credit, Prepaid, Virtual, and Premium/Affluent cards.
• Lead card materials strategy (PVC, recycled PVC, metal, contactless, tokenization, NFC wearables).
• Oversee operations & governance for issuing: Personalization/bureau performance, embossing, PIN, fulfillment SLAs.
• Oversee EMV, contactless, tokenization, 3‑D Secure for CNP protection.
• Oversee Chargebacks & disputes governance; fraud loss thresholds.
• Oversee Scheme compliance (Visa/Mastercard) and BoU regulatory adherence.
• Manage Portfolio performance: Activation, usage/spend, attrition, cost‑to‑serve, interchange and fee income.
• Lead change initiatives: product refreshes, design updates, card migrations, BIN management.
• Support merchant acquiring across POS, E‑commerce, and QR: Pricing & MDR strategies, interchange optimization, and cost recovery.
• Support merchant value propositions: settlements, reports, chargeback support, fraud tools.
• Build and execute E‑commerce GTM plan: Target segments: airlines, travel, education, utilities, Fintechs, marketplaces, SaaS/billers, gov’t collections.
• Create sector‑specific propositions (recurring billing, token vault, pay‑by‑link, subscriptions).
• Own the sales pipeline: prospecting, solutioning with tech/vendors, pricing, commercial negotiation, contracting.
• Champion developer & partner enablement: API/SDK readiness, sandbox support, documentation, and integration playbooks.
• Champion Ecosystem partnerships (PSPs, Payment Gateways, ERP/website builders).
• Drive conversion and fraud performance: 3‑D Secure optimization, risk rules tuning, velocity controls, negative lists.
• Balance SCA with UX; minimize false declines.
• Launch and scale alternate payment methods (QR, mobile money via card rails where applicable, tokenized wallets).
• Manage card and e‑commerce vendors (bureaus, gateways, fraud tools, tokenization, CMS, switch).
• Govern SLAs, pricing, and service credits; run QBRs.
• Serve as key contact for Visa/Mastercard/UPI on product approvals, audits, and incentives.
• Ensure BoU and Absa Group policy compliance (AML/CFT, data privacy, conduct).
• Deliver P&L outcomes across issuing and acquiring drivers: Interchange, MDR, fee income (issuance, replacement, statements), scheme incentives.
• Manage cost lines: plastics, personalization, scheme fees, fraud losses, dispute handling, vendor OPEX.
• Build business cases and secure approvals for new products, pricing changes, and capex/opex.
• Perform any other duties that maybe assigned to you from time to time by the Bank.

• Product Management
• Commercial Growth
• Business Development
• E-commerce Acquiring
• Issuing Operations
• Governance
• Risk Management
• Scheme Management
• Vendor Management
• Portfolio Management
• Sales Pipeline Management
• Developer Enablement
• Partner Enablement
• Fraud Performance Optimization
• Regulatory Compliance
• Financial Accountability
• Business Case Development

• National Diplomas and Advanced Certificates: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)