Job Title: Card Compliance Officer
Location: Muscat, Oman
Term: 6-12 months
Reports to: Head of Card Services
Department: Card Services
Job Purpose:
The Card Compliance Officer is responsible for ensuring end-to-end compliance with clients card payment scheme and regulatory requirements. The role also leads and manages card compliance-related projects, ensuring timely delivery of scheme and regulatory initiatives while minimizing compliance, operational, and financial risk.
Key Responsibilities
Card Scheme Compliance
- Ensure full compliance with client operating regulations, manuals, and compliance programs.
- Monitor scheme bulletins, mandates, and rule changes; assess business impact and drive implementation.
- Act as the primary liaison with client on compliance matters, audits, and investigations.
- Manage responses to scheme audits, inquiries, and compliance monitoring programs.
- Ensure card products, processes, and operations comply with clients regulations, circulars, and directives.
- Support internal and external regulatory audits, inspections, and examinations relating to card business.
- Track regulatory changes and coordinate timely implementation across all relevant stakeholders.
- Lead and manage card compliance projects arising from scheme mandates, regulatory requirements, audits, or strategic initiatives.
- Develop project plans, timelines, and deliverables for compliance initiatives; track progress and report status to management.
- Coordinate cross-functional teams (Operations, IT, Risk, Legal, Compliance, Vendors, Processors) to ensure successful execution.
- Ensure compliance projects are delivered on time, within scope, and with minimal business disruption.
- Oversee post-implementation validation to confirm compliance objectives are met.
- Identify, assess, and remediate card compliance breaches and operational issues.
- Perform root cause analysis and drive corrective and preventive action plans.
- Support enterprise risk assessments related to card issuing and acquiring activities.
- Manage and validate clients fees, assessments, fines, and penalties.
- Investigate and resolve fee discrepancies and compliance-related charges with schemes.
- Support cost monitoring, forecasting, and optimization initiatives for scheme-related fees.
- Prepare and present compliance dashboards, project updates, and management reports.
- Maintain compliance documentation, evidence repositories, and audit trails.
- Support governance forums and management committees with compliance and project status updates.
- Provide compliance advisory support to business and product teams during new initiatives, enhancements, and changes.
- Engage with vendors, processors, and internal teams to ensure contractual and operational compliance.
- Conduct awareness sessions and trainings on card scheme and regulatory compliance requirements.
Key Skills & Competencies
- Strong knowledge of Visa operating regulations
- Working knowledge of CBO regulatory requirements for payment cards
- Proven project management skills in a compliance or payments environment
- Strong analytical, reporting, and issue-resolution capabilities
- Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills
- High attention to detail and ability to work under regulatory deadlines
Qualifications & Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Banking, Law, or a related discipline
- 10-15 years of experience in card services, payments, compliance, or operations
- Hands-on experience managing card scheme mandates and compliance projects
- Experience supporting regulatory audits and scheme assessments
- Professional certifications in payments, compliance, or project management are an advantage
Preferred Experience
- Exposure to both card issuing and acquiring environments
- Experience managing large-scale scheme or regulatory remediation programs
- Familiarity with scheme fees/charges, chargeback monitoring programs, scheme risk programs, Settlement, Reconciliation and compliance reporting tools