Head of Payment Solutions (Issuing & Acquiring)

Job Description:

Our client is a high-growth fintech company specializing in cross-border payment solutions. Their services include acquiring and issuing services, embedded finance solutions, FX payments, and e-wallets. They are seeking a dynamic and commercially minded Head of Payment Solutions (Issuing & Acquiring) to lead the strategy, product development, and execution of our card issuing and merchant acquiring services. This person will play a key leadership role in scaling our payment infrastructure, building strategic partnerships, and driving regional and global expansion across B2B and B2C payment ecosystems.

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Key Responsibilities:

• Define and execute product strategy for card issuing and acquiring across various markets.
• Oversee end-to-end product lifecycle including ideation, compliance, implementation, go-to-market, and performance optimization.
• Lead innovation in virtual cards, tokenization, white-label card programs, payment APIs, merchant onboarding, etc.
• Develop new revenue streams and value-added services (e.g., recurring billing, FX integration, fraud protection).
• Drive business development initiatives and collaborate with commercial teams to grow transaction volume and client adoption.
• Identify market trends and opportunities for strategic differentiation in cross-border payment flows.
• Establish and maintain relationships with key ecosystem partners: card schemes (Visa, Mastercard, UnionPay), payment processors, banks, and payment gateways. to lead the strategy, product development, and execution of our card issuing and merchant acquiring services.
• Lead contract negotiations, commercial agreements, and onboarding of payment partners and technology providers.
• Ensure compliance with regulatory requirements and card scheme mandates in target regions.
• Collaborate with risk, compliance, and engineering teams to uphold security, KYC, AML, and transaction monitoring standards.
• Manage cross-functional teams across product, engineering, operations, and finance to deliver scalable payment solutions.

Requirements:

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Business, Finance, Technology, or related fields.
• At least 10 years of experience in payments, with strong expertise in both card issuing and merchant acquiring, preferably in a fintech or payments company.
• Proven leadership in building and launching payment products in multi-jurisdiction environments.
• Deep understanding of payment networks, BIN sponsorship, interchange, settlement, and reconciliation.
• Excellent stakeholder management, negotiation, and communication skills.
• Ability to work in a fast-paced, high-growth, cross-functional environment.

EA Licence No: 23S1615