Payments Acquiring & Processing Architect – iGaming

This is a fully remote position, open to applicants in South Africa, +15 more countries.

📋 Description

• Oversee the comprehensive development of an in-house payment processing and acquiring operation.

• Administer licensing applications, regulatory obligations, and continuous compliance.

• Secure memberships with Visa and Mastercard, along with BIN sponsorship, banking, and settlement agreements.

• Design and manage the processing infrastructure, which includes authorization, clearing, settlement, 3DS, tokenization, and payouts.

• Establish direct connections with card schemes, banks, and alternative payment service providers.

• Lead the scheme certification process and ensure compliance with PCI DSS Level 1.

• Create acquiring risk frameworks that encompass merchant underwriting, AML, fraud, and chargebacks.

• Oversee payment performance metrics, including approval rates, transaction costs, reconciliation, and settlement.

• Build and guide the payments operations team following the launch.

⛳️ Requirements

• Demonstrated experience in building a payment processor from the ground up, with direct links to card schemes, banks, or payment rails.

• Practical experience in establishing a card acquiring business, covering licensing, Visa/Mastercard membership, BINs, and settlement arrangements.

• Minimum of 5 years of experience in payments within online gambling, casinos, sportsbooks, lotteries, or betting sectors.

• Proven track record of successfully launching and running a processor or acquirer managing real transactions at scale.

• Strong comprehension of card scheme regulations, ISO 8583/20022, 3DS2, clearing, settlement, and PCI DSS compliance.

• Experience in high-risk acquiring, gambling merchant registration, fraud, AML, and chargeback management.

• Commercial negotiation experience with banks, card schemes, and payment providers, along with expertise in developing acquiring pricing and P&L models.

• Excellent stakeholder management abilities, collaborating closely with Legal, Compliance, Finance, and Engineering teams.

• Experience in both regulated and unregulated markets is essential.

• Membership with principal card schemes, as well as familiarity with African, LATAM, or Asian payment methods, is a plus.

• Candidates must have authentically developed or architected a processor and played a role in launching an acquiring operation that successfully went live.

• Experience limited to integrating third-party PSPs or payment orchestration will not be adequate.

🏝️ Benefits

• Competitive salary and performance-based incentives.

• Opportunity to work in a dynamic and innovative environment.

• Professional development and growth opportunities.

• Comprehensive health and wellness benefits.

• Flexible working arrangements.