Specialist: Financial Accounting - JHB at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

Key Responsibilities for the Acquiring Business:

• Planning & Forecasting:  Prepare Short Term Plan (STP), Medium-Term Plan (MTP) and RAF budgets aligned with business objectives.  Forecast schemes fees and transactional volumes at a granular level per fee category and fee type.
• Monthly Financial and Management Reporting: Prepare monthly financial and management reports to provide insights into business performance.

Interchange & Scheme Fee Analysis:

• Analyze interchange paid out by Acquiring, categorized by product type and scheme, domestic & international and by sector to identify business opportunities.
• Conduct scheme fee analysis per transaction type and basis point (bps) per transaction and assess cost impact on Acquiring’s Margins.
• Implement automation solutions to streamline processes and improve efficiency.
• Analyze the impact of new transaction types and new scheme bulletins.

Risk and Compliance:

• Investigate and unpack penalties related to scheme fees and driving conversation with business to find solutions as a cost saving measure.
• Provide external and internal audit support.
• Provide New Product and amended products (NAPA) support.
• Business Cases & Project Support: Provide schemes finance commercial insights for all new business cases, including scheme impact analysis.
• Business Meetings Participation: Attend operational business meetings (Fin Comm, Opco, scheme bi-annual releases) to stay informed about business developments and provide valuable schemes fee insights.
• Benchmarking Exercise: Working with third parties on on-going benchmarking and scheme fees audit for accuracy and cost saving opportunities.
• Pricing & Profitability Support: Supporting RB pricing and business by providing detailed schemes costs and insights.

Requirements:

• CA (SA) with 3 years post qualification experience
• Financial services background and Card experience will be an added advantage.

Skills and Competencies:

• Strong analytical skills with attention to detail.
• Proficiency in financial modeling and data analysis.
• Excellent communication and presentation skills.
• Ability to work effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Team player with the ability to collaborate cross-functionally.