Portfolio Manager- Credit Card

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Job Summary

To manage and grow the Credit Card portfolio by driving acquisition, activation, spend, profitability, customer engagement, and portfolio quality while ensuring compliance all in country regulatory regulations, Absa policies, and card scheme requirements (Visa/Mastercard). The role is accountable for the end-to-end performance of the credit card business, including product management, portfolio analytics, risk oversight, and commercial execution.

Job Description

Business Growth (35%)

• Develop and implement portfolio growth strategies to expand credit card acquisition, increase card usage, and enhance portfolio profitability.

• Drive the achievement of credit card revenue targets through optimization of interchange income, interest earnings, annual fees, and other card-related revenue streams.

• Develop and implement strategic initiatives to drive sustainable growth of the credit card portfolio, aligned with the bank's retail banking objectives.

• Lead customer acquisition, card activation, and usage campaigns to expand the active cardholder base.

• Drive growth in card spend, revolving balances, and customer engagement while delivering exceptional customer experience and service excellence.

• Monitor portfolio profitability, return on assets, and overall portfolio performance to ensure sustainable growth and value creation

• Develop and maintain strategic partnerships with cross functional units, as well as Direct Sales teams, to accelerate credit card sales, activation, and utilization.

Product Management (20%)

• Oversee the end-to-end lifecycle management of credit card products in collaboration with the Card Customer Lifecycle Management (CLM) team.

• Coordinate product launches, enhancements, pricing reviews, and portfolio refresh initiatives to maintain market competitiveness

• Conduct regular competitor benchmarking and market analysis to ensure the bank's card offerings remain industry-leading

• Identify market opportunities and customer needs to enhance existing products and develop innovative card propositions

• Support the development and growth of premium, rewards, affinity, co-branded, and partnership card programs.

Customer Excellence (20%)

• Champion customer-centric portfolio strategies by continuously enhancing the credit card customer journey across acquisition, onboarding, activation, usage, and retention stages.

• Drive customer satisfaction and loyalty initiatives through the development of value propositions, rewards programs, and personalized card offerings that meet evolving customer needs.

• Monitor and improve customer experience metrics, including Net Promoter Score (NPS), complaint resolution turnaround times, card activation rates, and customer retention levels.

• Collaborate with customer service, digital banking, and operations teams to resolve customer pain points, streamline processes, and deliver seamless cardholder experiences across all channels.

• Support the development and growth of premium, rewards, affinity and co-branded and partnership card programs.

• Leverage customer insights, feedback, and transaction data to identify service improvement opportunities, enhance engagement, and strengthen long-term relationships with cardholders.

Operational Efficiency (15%)

• Ensure full compliance of the card portfolio with all in country regulatory requirements, Visa and Mastercard scheme rules, AML/KYC requirements, consumer protection standards, and the Bank’s internal policies, procedures, and control frameworks.

• Maintain robust operational, financial, and risk controls across all card portfolio processes, ensuring the integrity, security, and efficiency of card operations.

• Proactively identify, assess, and mitigate operational, regulatory, and fraud-related risks affecting the card portfolio.

• Coordinate internal and external audits related to card products and services, ensuring timely resolution and closure of audit findings and compliance gaps.

• Monitor changes in regulatory and card scheme requirements and implement necessary process enhancements to ensure continued compliance and operational excellence.

Stakeholder Management (10%)

•  Build strong relationships with internal stakeholders including Retail Banking, Business Banking, Corporate Banking, Digital Banking, Operations, Risk, Compliance, and Finance teams to support portfolio objectives.

• Collaborate with sales channels to drive card acquisition, activation, and portfolio growth.

• Engage with external partners such as Visa, Mastercard, merchants, fintech's, and service providers to enhance card offerings and customer value.

• Provide regular portfolio insights and strategic recommendations to senior management to support business growth and informed decision-making.

 

Any other duties that maybe assigned to you from time to time by the Bank.

Preferred Education

• Bachelor’s degree in business administration, Economic, Statistic, Marketing or any other related field

Preferred Experience

• 5 years’ experience in the Financial Services sector which must include proven experience.

• Strong analytical and data interpretation skills

• Experience in a front-line banking sales/marketing/service environment

Knowledge and Skills

Knowledge

• Understands and can execute delivery of Personal Banking (70%) and Business Banking (30%)

• Understanding of market management and market segmentation

• Knowledge of distribution channels

• Knowledge of branch transaction processes

• An understanding of business and financial management principles and practices

Skills

• Excellent interpersonal skills

• Good communication skills

• Decision making skills

• People management skills

• Conflict resolution skills

• Change management skills

• Negotiation skills

• Stakeholder management

Education

National Diplomas and Advanced Certificates: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)