Regional Merchant Acquiring Officer - Region / Branches

JOB PURPOSE

The Regional Merchant Acquiring Officer is responsible for driving the growth, onboarding, activation, and relationship management of the organization’s merchant acquiring network across a designated region. This role focuses on expanding the footprint of POS terminals, QR code payments, payment gateways, and e-commerce solutions across retail, hospitality, petroleum, healthcare, and corporate merchant segments to boost digital transaction volumes and merchant revenue.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Daily Merchant Prospecting & Field Pipeline Management: Conduct daily field visits and sales calls to prospective retail, corporate, and SME merchants to pitch acquiring solutions (POS, QR, API Gateways).
• Merchant Onboarding & KYC Verification: Collect, review, and submit daily Know Your Customer (KYC) and Know Your Business (KYB) documentation for new merchant applications in compliance with central bank and card scheme regulations.
• POS Terminal Deployment & Merchant Training: Oversee the physical installation and testing of POS terminals, standalone QR stands, and payment hardware, providing immediate operational training to merchant staff and cashier teams.
• Daily Transaction Monitoring & Activation: Review daily merchant transaction logs and active throughput across the region, conducting proactive support visits to inactive or low-volume merchants to drive transaction usage.
• First-Line Technical & Operational Escalations: Resolve daily Tier-1 merchant queries, including POS paper roll/hardware faults, network connectivity issues, transaction declines, settlement disputes, and fee statement requests.
• Develop and execute regional territory sales plans to achieve monthly targets for active merchant acquiring touchpoints, gross transaction value (GTV), and net fee revenue.
• Identify key regional commercial hubs, shopping centers, trade associations, and corporate chains for bulk merchant acquisition and strategic partnership deals.
• Monitor competitor acquiring activities, acquiring rates (MDR/interchange fees), and terminal technology trends within the assigned region.
• Conduct periodic retention and relationship management visits to top-tier (Key Account) merchants to build long-term loyalty and prevent merchant churn.
• Cross-sell complementary financial products, including merchant working capital loans, business insurance, corporate accounts, and payroll services to existing merchants.
• Coordinate with regional logistics, IT, and terminal management vendors to ensure adequate POS inventory, terminal repair, and prompt replacement stock.
• Ensure all merchant acquiring activities strictly adhere to PCI-DSS security standards, card scheme rules (Visa, Mastercard, local switches), and national AML/CFT regulations.
• Monitor suspicious transaction patterns, unauthorized location changes (terminal mobility risks), and potential merchant fraud, taking swift action to mitigate financial loss.
• Liaise with internal clearing and settlement teams to resolve merchant chargebacks, settlement delays, and chargeback dispute documentation within strict scheme timelines.

DAILY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Review, vet, and validate regional merchant applications—ensuring compliance with Know Your Customer (KYC), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and site inspection requirements before account activation.
• Coordinate POS terminal distribution, mobile-POS provisioning, and e-commerce payment gateway integration with regional merchant locations and technical field support teams.
• Drive regional acquiring transaction volumes and gross fee revenues by building relationships with key retail, hospitality, and corporate merchant accounts.
• Track daily transaction processing volumes, monitor batch settlement files, and investigate delayed payouts, chargebacks, or unusual transaction spikes across regional terminals.

ACADEMIC & PROFESSIONAL QUALIFICATIONS

• Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Information Technology, Marketing, Finance, Economics or a related field.
• Professional certifications in Card Payments, Digital Financial Services, Sales Management or PCI-DSS awareness (Added Advantage).

EXPERIENCE

• Minimum of 5 years’ overall experience.
• At least 3 years of experience in Card and Merchant Business (Essential).
• At least 2 years of experience in Stakeholder Management (Desirable).