Senior Payments Specialist at Discovery Limited

About the Payments team

Discovery Bank wishes to enhance our current payments offering and to also introduce additional payment stream capabilities in the near future.   As such, we need to complement our current capacity and capabilities within the Payments team. 

We are looking for a smart, energetic, experienced and dynamic achiever who take initiative and ownership, and who thrive on constant challenges and high-speed change to join the Payments team on this journey.

If you have an entrepreneurial mind and appreciate calculated risks, then the Discovery Bank “Payments” team will liberate you to realise your full potential.

Job Purpose 

• To ensure that the Bank’s payment offerings are innovative, differentiated and disruptive

• To provide expert input into product design and delivery from a payments and acquiring perspective.

• To ensure payment offerings are compliant with industry regulations

• To represent the Bank into the payments industry.

Areas of responsibility may include but not limited to 

• Assist in developing, enhancing and delivering the SME, card acquiring and payments strategy for the bank

• Monitor and evaluate emerging payment technologies and business models both in South Africa and the rest of the world

• Analyse key indicators and competitor information to ensure that emerging industry trends are noted and understood

• Continuously look for opportunities create competitive or innovative payments differentiators for the Bank

• Provide expert advice and guidance to the Product, Customer and Operations teams to ensure optimal development and management of acquiring and payments

• Liaise with the PASA and any other relevant Association(s) to receive and understand latest mandates, compliance and system related features which are to be enhanced or to be included into Bank’s own systems

• Liaise with payments representatives from other banks and suppliers on applicable commercial and acceptance issues.

• Assist the teams building a new SME payments and acquiring streams and enhancing current payment offerings, including mapping out processes while assessing the business and customer experience and the commercial impact.

• Ensure that industry and scheme rules are correctly interpreted and implemented in the design process.

• Ensure that payments reporting to the SARB is correctly specified

• Working with and influencing industry strategies at PASA and attendance at relevant PCHs and other industry forums

Personal Attributes and Skills 

• Strategic thinker able to conceptualise and translate acquiring and payments strategy into tangible outputs

• An ability to deal with complex issues and migrate between detail and high level requirements

• Exceptional analytical and problem solving skills

• Flexible with an ability to deal with ambiguity and continuous change

• Independent self-starter who also works well in a team-environment

• Deep knowledge and experience of the card acquiring and payments industry, schemes and regulations and more specifically, the National Payment System (NPS)

• Basic business analysis skills

• Negotiation skills and an understanding of the commercials underpinning payments and acquiring

• Action oriented with a can-do attitude and to get things done

• Attitude of “end-to-end ownership” for payments, from CX, product profitability, operations and compliance.

• Strong business analysis skills with the ability to deliver insight on how to make process improvements

• Advanced written and verbal communication skills, able to translate payment concepts into general business concepts

Education and Experience 

• A formal financial / business / science / engineering degree

• Minimum 5 years’ work experience in SME, card acquiring and payments related roles

• Must be conversant with VISA, MasterCard Acquiring rules and PASA clearing rules, regulations and transaction flows

• A good understanding of the technology and commercials that support acquiring and payments

• Comprehensive knowledge of SME, Acquiring, payment systems, payments strategy & design

EMPLOYMENT EQUITY   
                             
The Company’s approved Employment Equity Plan and Targets will be considered as part of the recruitment process. As an Equal Opportunities employer, we actively encourage and welcome people with various disabilities to apply.