Compliance Specialist (Payments and Cards)

Requirements

• Substantial experience in a payments compliance, product compliance, or regulatory advisory role at a regulated fintech, payment institution, e-money institution, or bank — with a clear specialism in payments and/or cards.
• Deep, practical knowledge of the regulatory frameworks governing payment services in the UK and/or EU/EEA — including PSD2/PSR, EMD2, FCA payment services rules, and SEPA scheme rules. Candidates with strong UK-only or EU-only experience are welcome; cross-jurisdictional experience is a significant advantage.
• Awareness of the EU PSD3/PSR legislative package and its key divergences from the current PSD2 regime and the UK's post-Brexit PSR, and the implications for payment institutions operating across both regimes.
• Working knowledge of card scheme rules (Visa and/or Mastercard) and the compliance obligations they place on programme managers and issuers.
• Experience providing first-line compliance oversight of product launches, feature changes, or new payment rail integrations — including SEPA scheme participation or cross-border payment rail integrations — in a regulated environment.
• Demonstrated ability to advise product and technology teams on regulatory implementation in a practical and commercially aware way, including where requirements differ across jurisdictions.
• Experience managing or mentoring junior compliance colleagues, with a genuine interest in developing others.
• Strong understanding of how FinCrime controls — KYC, transaction monitoring, sanctions — interact with payment and card product design across both UK and EU regulatory frameworks.
• Expert knowledge of the payments and cards regulatory landscape across the UK and/or EU, with the ability to apply it practically to real product and technology decisions and to navigate areas of divergence between the two regimes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills — able to produce high-quality compliance documentation and present regulatory findings clearly to product, engineering, and senior leadership audiences across different markets.
• A natural collaborator who builds trust quickly with product and engineering teams, positioning compliance as an enabler rather than a blocker.
• Strong analytical mindset — comfortable assessing regulatory risk using data and articulating trade-offs between compliance, risk, and commercial objectives.
• Highly organised and detail-oriented, with the ability to manage multiple workstreams, deadlines, and stakeholders simultaneously across multiple jurisdictions.
• A proactive self-starter who identifies problems early and drives solutions rather than waiting to be directed.
• (Desirable) Direct experience working under the NBB, DNB, Banco de España, BaFin, or another EEA national competent authority, or of managing regulatory relationships with these bodies.
• (Desirable) Experience with the EU Instant Payments Regulation and its implications for payment institutions — particularly around mandatory instant payment offering, IBAN verification obligations, and sanctions screening requirements.
• (Desirable) Familiarity with DORA compliance obligations for payment institutions, including ICT risk management, incident reporting, and third-party risk requirements.
• (Desirable) Experience with the EU AML Package — including AMLA, the new EU AML Regulation, and national transposition differences across key EEA markets.
• (Desirable) Experience with open banking under PSD2 Article 66/67, EBA RTS on SCA and CSC, and the evolving EU open finance framework.
• (Desirable) Familiarity with multi-currency account safeguarding requirements under both EMD2 and FCA CASS, and how they are implemented in practice for cross-border payment products.
• (Desirable) A European language (Dutch, Spanish, French, or German) is a bonus given Ebury's key EU markets.
• (Desirable) ICA Certificate or Diploma in Compliance, AML, or Financial Crime, or equivalent professional qualification.

What the job involves

• We are looking for an experienced Senior Manager to lead Ebury's payments and cards compliance capability.
• This is a senior, substantive role that sits within the Group Compliance function, reporting directly to the Group Compliance Director, with a dotted line to the Head of Product Compliance for coordination across the broader product compliance programme.
• You will have direct line management responsibility for any Payments & Cards Compliance Analyst as these may be recruited.
• The role is open in both the UK and Europe.
• Whether based in London, Madrid, or Brussels, you will operate across Ebury's full regulatory footprint — covering both FCA-regulated activities in the UK and NBB/EEA-regulated activities across the EU.
• You will need to be comfortable navigating both regimes simultaneously and advising product teams on where requirements differ, overlap, or are about to change.
• The reporting line into the Group Compliance Director reflects both the seniority of the role and the importance of having experienced oversight readily available as Ebury's payments and cards product suite — and its regulatory obligations — continue to grow in complexity.
• You will benefit from direct access to senior compliance leadership while working closely with the Head of Product Compliance on day-to-day product and systems oversight.
• You will be Ebury's primary first-line compliance expert for all things payments and cards — owning the regulatory compliance framework for this product domain, advising product and engineering squads on regulatory requirements, overseeing product launches and material changes, and managing relationships with relevant regulators, banking partners, and card schemes across both the UK and EU.
• You will also be the subject matter expert and escalation point for your analyst, actively developing their expertise and capability.
• This is a hands-on, expert role.
• You will be in the detail of regulatory requirements, product builds, and control frameworks — while carrying the authority and seniority to make and defend regulatory judgement calls independently.
• Act as Ebury's first-line subject matter expert on payments and cards regulation across both the UK and EU/EEA, covering: PSD2 and the incoming PSD3/PSR package; EMD2 and proposed EMD3; FCA payment services and e-money rules; the EU Instant Payments Regulation; SEPA scheme rules (SCT, SDD, SCT Inst); EBA regulatory technical standards (including RTS on Strong Customer Authentication, RTS on open banking, and guidelines on payment security under PSD2 Article 95); card scheme rules (Visa and Mastercard); Consumer Duty (UK) and equivalent EU consumer protection obligations; and DORA as it applies to payment institutions.
• Maintain deep, current knowledge of the regulatory requirements applying to Ebury's payments and cards products — cross-border payments, SEPA credit transfers and direct debits, local payment rails, multi-currency accounts, virtual and physical cards, bulk payment APIs, and embedded payments — ensuring this knowledge is translated into practical, actionable compliance guidance for product and engineering teams operating across multiple jurisdictions.
• Monitor and interpret regulatory change across both the UK and EU payments and cards landscape — including the EU PSD3/PSR legislative package and its divergence from the UK PSR regime, FCA policy statements and Dear CEO letters, EBA consultations and final guidelines, card scheme rule updates, the EU Instant Payments Regulation implementation timeline, and emerging DORA obligations for payment institutions — and proactively identify implications for Ebury's product roadmap and control frameworks.
• Manage and clearly articulate areas of regulatory divergence between the UK and EU regimes to product and engineering teams, particularly where PSD3/PSR, open banking standards, or SCA requirements differ from their UK equivalents, ensuring product builds are appropriately calibrated for each jurisdiction.
• Conduct regulatory horizon scanning for your product domain and feed findings into the Head of Product Compliance's quarterly risk reporting and governance forums, with specific attention to EBA publications, NBB supervisory priorities, and FCA thematic reviews relevant to payments and cards.
• Lead first-line compliance oversight for all new product launches, features, and material changes within the payments and cards domain across both UK and EU/EEA markets — from initial regulatory scoping through to pre-launch sign-off.
• Conduct and document thorough regulatory analysis and product risk assessments for new and changed payments and cards products, ensuring all relevant UK and EU regulatory requirements are addressed — including jurisdiction-specific obligations around safeguarding (EMD2 Article 7 and FCA CASS), SCA exemptions, SEPA scheme participation requirements, and Consumer Duty or equivalent EU consumer protection standards.
• Own regulatory change management for payments and cards obligations across both regimes — leading gap analyses when regulation changes (including PSD3 transposition and EU Instant Payments Regulation implementation), defining remediation plans, and working with product squads to ensure timely execution.
• Advise product managers and engineers on how to interpret and implement regulatory requirements in a customer-oriented, commercially aware, and technically feasible way — including where requirements differ between UK and EU markets and where product architecture needs to accommodate both regimes.
• Provide compliance input on card programme agreements, payment processing contracts, banking partner agreements, and SEPA scheme adherence documentation, ensuring obligations under both FCA and NBB/EEA regulatory frameworks are adequately reflected.
• Oversee compliance with card scheme rules (Visa and Mastercard) across Ebury's card products, including dispute management, chargeback obligations, and scheme compliance reporting, noting where scheme rules interact with EU or UK regulatory requirements.
• Provide specialist compliance input on FinCrime controls as they interact with Ebury's payments and cards products — including transaction monitoring typologies specific to card and payment products, KYC requirements for new payment product onboarding journeys, and sanctions screening coverage for payment flows across SEPA, SWIFT, and local payment rails.
• Ensure FinCrime controls are appropriately calibrated to the EU/EEA regulatory environment, including requirements under the EU AML Package (AMLA, 6AMLD, and the new EU AML Regulation), EBA guidelines on ML/TF risk factors for payment institutions, and national transposition differences across key Ebury markets such as Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, and France.
• Collaborate with Ebury's FinCrime and second-line Risk teams to ensure that FinCrime controls embedded in payments and cards products are fit for purpose, well-documented, and consistent with Ebury's risk-based approach across both UK and EU regulatory frameworks.
• Support assessments of new payment rails, SEPA scheme participation, acquiring relationships, or card programme structures from a FinCrime risk perspective, flagging issues early in the product design process.
• Line manage and develop the Payments & Cards Compliance Analyst — setting clear objectives, providing regular feedback, reviewing their work, and creating opportunities for them to grow their UK and EU regulatory expertise and take on increasing responsibility over time.
• Act as the primary escalation point for your analyst on complex regulatory questions, review findings, or stakeholder challenges within the payments and cards domain, including where questions span multiple jurisdictions.
• Contribute to building a strong team culture within the broader Product Compliance function — sharing knowledge, supporting colleagues, and helping to establish the team as a trusted and commercially minded partner across the business.
• Represent Ebury in external meetings with regulators — including the FCA, NBB, DNB, Banco de España, and other relevant national competent authorities — as well as banking partners and card schemes, articulating Ebury's product offering, control framework, and regulatory position with confidence and credibility across both UK and EU contexts.
• Support audits — internal and external — relating to Ebury's payments and cards products across all regulated jurisdictions, managing information requests, coordinating responses, and constructively challenging findings where appropriate.
• Contribute to Ebury's compliance governance framework — producing and presenting quarterly risk reports, compliance attestations, and regulatory change updates for the payments and cards domain, covering both FCA and NBB/EEA supervisory expectations.
• Collaborate with legal, operations, and second-line Risk and Compliance teams to ensure a joined-up approach to regulatory compliance across the payments and cards product suite in all operating markets.