Product Manager, Card Issuing & Card Management

About the Role

The number 1 Top Employer in South Africa. Certified by the Top Employer Institute 2026.

Responsibilities

• Product Manager: Card Issuing & Card Management is accountable for defining, managing, and executing the product roadmap for Vodacom Financial Services' card portfolio.
• The role is responsible for driving customer value, revenue growth, card usage, transaction volumes, and operational excellence across the card ecosystem. The Product Manager works closely with internal stakeholders, issuing processors, acquiring partners, banking partners, and card schemes, particularly VISA, to deliver innovative, secure, compliant, and commercially successful card products.
• The role serves as the primary owner of the card lifecycle, including card issuance, card management, tokenization, digital wallet enablement, card controls, fraud management, scheme compliance, customer experience, and ongoing product enhancements.
• Define and maintain the product vision and strategy for the card issuing and card management portfolio.
• Develop and manage the card product roadmap aligned to Vodacom Financial Services objectives.
• Identify opportunities to grow card issuance, card activation, card usage, and digital payment adoption.
• Drive innovation across virtual cards, tokenized payments, e-commerce payments, and wallet integrations.
• Evaluate emerging card ecosystem opportunities including digital wallets, tokenization, contactless payments, and value-added card services.
• Ensure alignment with Financial Services growth, customer, and digital transformation strategies.
• Own card portfolio revenue, transaction growth, activation rates, and profitability targets.
• Develop business cases for new card propositions, card features, and strategic investments.
• Monitor scheme economics, interchange revenue, issuer fees, and portfolio performance.
• Drive card spend growth and increased customer engagement.
• Identify opportunities to improve card utilization and customer lifetime value.
• Optimize customer acquisition, activation, retention, and card usage strategies.
• Own end-to-end card product lifecycle management.
• Prioritize card product backlogs and delivery initiatives.
• Lead development of card issuing, card management, and servicing capabilities.
• Drive enhancements relating to: Virtual cards Contactless payments Tokenization Card controls Card replacement PIN management Digital wallet integration Transaction notifications Fraud controls Recurring payments
• Ensure successful delivery through Agile methodologies.
• Govern launches and post-launch monitoring of card products and features.
• Drive continuous optimization of customer journeys and digital experiences.
• Act as the primary product representative for engagement with VISA.
• Build and maintain strategic relationships with card scheme stakeholders.
• Drive alignment with VISA product roadmaps and innovation initiatives.
• Represent Vodacom Financial Services in scheme working groups, forums, and product discussions.
• Collaborate with VISA on: Product development Scheme certification Compliance requirements Tokenization programmes Digital wallet initiatives Contactless enablement Risk and fraud controls Marketing campaigns Incentive programmes
• Identify and leverage scheme funding opportunities and co-investment programmes.
• Ensure compliance with all applicable scheme mandates, operating regulations, and implementation requirements.
• Ensure card products comply with all regulatory requirements.
• Ensure adherence to: VISA Operating Regulations PCI DSS requirements Card security standards AML requirements KYC requirements Consumer protection obligations
• Drive fraud prevention and risk mitigation initiatives.
• Support audit, governance, and regulatory activities.
• Monitor portfolio risk and fraud trends.
• Ensure implementation of appropriate card controls and customer protection measures.
• Lead and collaborate within cross-functional teams.
• Promote product management and best practices.
• Drive customer-centric and data-driven decision-making.
• Mentor business analysts and junior product team members where applicable.
• Foster collaboration across business and technology teams.
• Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Business Administration, or other related field
• A total of eight or more years experience of which at least 5 or more years are in the successful delivery in Product Management (or equivalent role) across full product lifecycles, from MVP to marketable products in iterations, including support transition
• Experience in successfully Leading and mentoring agile / DevOps teams in Large multi-team environments
• Experience in successful delivery against financial / resource constraints
• Experience with requirements definition and use case modelling
• Strong experience in: Card issuing Payments Banking Fintech Financial services
• Experience working directly with VISA or other global card schemes.
• Proven experience delivering card-based or payment-based digital products.
• Strong understanding of card processing ecosystems and payment rails.
• Experience working in cross-functional delivery environments.
• Strategic thinking
• Decision making
• Collaboration and influence
• Change leadership
• Business case development
• Financial analysis
• Product commercialization
• Growth mindset
• Card product management
• Product lifecycle management
• Customer journey optimization
• Agile delivery
• Digital payments
• Stakeholder management
• Negotiation
• Communication
• Executive engagement
• Vendor and partner management
• Card issuing
• Card management
• VISA products and services
• Tokenization
• Contactless payments
• Digital wallets
• Fraud prevention
• Payment processing
• Regulatory compliance
• Financial services ecosystems
• Excellent problem-solving skills, with the ability to minimize overhead tasks for the team and manage interdependences with other teams
• Excellent relationship building and influencing skills, with the ability to foster an inclusive team culture
• Excellent business acumen and understanding of the role of the capability in contributing to business value
• A strong customer-centric focus, with an entrepreneurial and ROI mindset. Ability to function with a high degree of autonomy
• Strong financial management skills and acumen
• Strong time-management skills and comfortable working under pressure
• Excellent verbal and written communications and collaboration skills, with the ability to work closely with the delivery team to deliver user stories
• Flexible with planning and work estimation, managing and empowering the team (without needing to micromanage), able to continuously balance between the customer and commercial needs
• Market research, design thinking, and lean start-up methods; business modelling
• Customer experience design of digital products and services
• Data-driven decision making
• Enticing incentive programs and competitive benefit packages
• Retirement funds, risk benefits, and medical aid benefits
• Cell phone and data benefits, advantages fibre connection discounts, and exclusive staff discounts offered in collaboration with partner companies