Manager - Card Operations & PPI Fulfilment

About the role

We are looking for an experienced and operationally rigorous Manager – Card Operations & PPI Fulfilment to build and run the physical card operations function for our RBI-licensed Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPI) business. This is a newly created role that covers the entire physical card lifecycle—from personalisation and embossing through inventory management, courier fulfilment, and delivery tracking, to plastic reconciliation and card control operations including hot listing. As we scale our prepaid card programme, this role will be central to ensuring cards reach customers accurately, securely, and on time, while maintaining tight controls on card stock and regulatory compliance.

What you'll do

Card Embossing & Personalisation

• Own the end-to-end card embossing and personalisation process—managing file preparation, vendor coordination, quality checks, and delivery of personalised card batches.
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• Coordinate with the card bureau/embossing vendor to define production schedules, turnaround SLAs, and quality acceptance criteria.
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• Ensure cardholder data is transmitted to the embossing vendor securely, in compliance with PCI-DSS requirements and RBI data security guidelines.
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• Manage card design variants, BIN assignments, and co-brand card production in coordination with the product and technology teams.
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• Maintain embossing production logs, quality rejection rates, and vendor performance metrics.

Card Inventory Management

• Own the card stock inventory—tracking unembossed stock levels, embossed-but-unissued stock, issued cards, and destroyed/rejected cards at all locations.
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• Define and maintain minimum stock thresholds and reorder triggers; coordinate with the card bureau for timely replenishment.
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• Maintain a card inventory register with full audit trails for each card unit—from receipt through embossing, dispatch, delivery, activation, or destruction.
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• Conduct periodic physical stock counts and reconcile with system records; investigate and resolve any discrepancies immediately.
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• Ensure secure storage, access controls, and handling procedures for blank card stock in compliance with PCI-DSS and RBI guidelines.

Card Delivery & Courier Management

• Own the card dispatch and delivery workflow—managing courier partner relationships, dispatch scheduling, pin mailer coordination, and delivery confirmation processes.
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• Track delivery success rates, undelivered return rates, and average delivery timelines; hold courier partners accountable to SLA commitments.
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• Manage the returned/undelivered card process—re-dispatch, customer communication, card cancellation after defined holding period, and secure destruction.
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• Ensure cardholder address verification and delivery confirmation processes meet RBI and PCI-DSS requirements.
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• Coordinate with the customer support team to resolve delivery queries and complaints within defined turnaround times.

Plastic Reconciliation

• Own the plastic reconciliation process—reconciling cards ordered, received, embossed, dispatched, delivered, activated, returned, and destroyed across the full card lifecycle.
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• Maintain daily/weekly plastic recon reports and ensure any unexplained variances are investigated and resolved with zero tolerance.
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• Produce periodic card stock reconciliation summaries for Finance, Compliance, and internal audit.
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• Coordinate with the card bureau and courier partners to resolve reconciliation exceptions and obtain supporting documentation.

Hot Listing & Card Control Operations

• Own the hot listing operation—processing card block requests from customers, risk, fraud, and compliance teams within defined SLAs; ensuring hot-listed cards are immediately inactivated at the switch level.
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• Maintain the hot list register with complete case details, request source, processing time, and confirmation records.
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• Manage emergency hot listing protocols for large-scale compromise events—coordinating with the card scheme, issuer processor, and fraud teams for rapid bulk blocking.
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• Coordinate with NPCI and the card scheme (Visa/Mastercard/RuPay) for network-level card alerts, global hot listing, and card scheme notifications.
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• Produce hot listing MIS—volumes by category (customer-initiated, fraud, risk-initiated, compliance-directed), average processing times, and exception reports.

Vendor & Scheme Management

• Manage relationships with the card bureau, embossing vendor, PIN mailer vendor, and courier partners—tracking SLAs, resolving operational issues, and conducting periodic performance reviews.
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• Serve as the operational liaison with the card scheme (Visa/Mastercard/RuPay) and NPCI for card operations queries, certification requirements, and compliance mandates.
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• Ensure all card operations vendor contracts include appropriate data security clauses, PCI-DSS obligations, and audit rights.

What we're looking for

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Business Administration, Operations Management, Commerce, or a related field.
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• 5–8 years of experience in card operations, prepaid card fulfilment, or payment card operations at a bank, NBFC, PPI issuer, or card bureau.
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• Hands-on experience managing card embossing operations, card inventory, and physical fulfilment logistics.
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• Strong understanding of PCI-DSS requirements as they apply to card personalisation, cardholder data handling, and physical card security.
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• Working knowledge of RBI PPI Master Directions as they relate to physical PPIs (prepaid cards).
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• Experience managing courier/logistics partners for card delivery including delivery tracking, SLA management, and returns processing.
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• Experience with hot listing and card control operations including integration with card switch and scheme notification processes.
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• High attention to detail and a strong controls mindset—zero tolerance for plastic reconciliation breaks or unauthorised card stock discrepancies.

Nice to have

• Prior experience at a licensed PPI issuer managing a full card production-to-delivery cycle.
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• Familiarity with card bureau platforms (Veritec, OpenWay, FSS, or similar card management systems).
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• Understanding of PIN offset management, PIN mailer design, and secure PIN delivery operations.
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• Experience managing co-branded or multi-variant card programmes with different BIN ranges.
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• Exposure to RuPay prepaid card scheme guidelines and NPCI card operations certification requirements