Merchant Underwriter Officer

About the role

A client in the banking sector, recruited through Stratostaff East Africa, needs an Officer, Merchant Underwriter based at its Nairobi head office. The role evaluates and mitigates financial and regulatory risk by performing due diligence on new merchant applications for POS and e-commerce, ensuring alignment with CBK and POCAMLA requirements and preventing losses from fraud and chargebacks. It also supports a healthy merchant portfolio through ongoing monitoring of transactions and periodic reviews of existing accounts.

Key responsibilities

• Conduct KYC/KYB checks (CR12, KRA PIN, Director IDs) and analyse financial statements and bank records to assess financial viability
• Perform targeted digital audits or site visits for high-risk merchants or those with chargeback ratios above 1%, and assign accurate Merchant Category Codes (MCC)
• Approve, decline or recommend conditional approvals, set transaction limits, settlement cycles and rolling reserves, and negotiate risk terms with Sales
• Screen applicants against AML/CFT sanctions lists (FRC, OFAC, UN) and MATCH / VMSS, and ensure PCI DSS compliance
• Maintain audit trails for every underwriting decision and escalate high-risk trends to card operations, specialist merchant sales and the Head Card, Payments
• Monitor for transaction laundering and suspicious volume spikes, investigate high chargeback accounts and terminate them where needed, and monitor dormant terminals

Required profile

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Economics, Business, Law or a related field
• Minimum 2-3 years' experience in risk management or merchant underwriting
• Deep knowledge of Kenyan regulatory frameworks (POCAMLA, CBK guidelines)

Required skills

• Strong analytical and investigative skills, with high attention to detail
• Proficiency in risk-scoring models and data analysis tools
• Ability to work independently and meet tight onboarding deadlines
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills