Senior Risk/Fraud Analyst

Populus is an amazing company where our employees stay because they love their teams and the growth opportunities. Additionally, we offer a competitive 401K match, a generous paid time off package, and Health Benefits.

Our mission is to provide a broad range of quality financial products and services delivered with best-in-class customer service. We work and lead with integrity, and we celebrate employees who exemplify our values. Come join our team!

The Senior Risk Analyst for Card Services Business will oversee risk management related to prepaid debit cards, DDA checking accounts, credit risk modeling, and KYC (Know Your Customer) compliance. This role involves identifying, assessing, and mitigating operational, financial, compliance, fraud, and credit risks while ensuring adherence to banking regulations, payment network rules, and fraud prevention best practices. The analyst will also oversee the KYC process, ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements for customer onboarding, identity verification, and transaction monitoring.

Major Responsibilities

• Evaluate risks related to prepaid debit cards, DDA accounts, ACH transactions, credit underwriting, and payment networks, and KYC compliance.
• Conduct risk assessments for new products, services, and business initiatives within the card services domain.
• Identify key risks such as credit risk, fraud, chargebacks, money laundering, and regulatory non-compliance.
• Develop and maintain credit risk models to assess and predict the likelihood of customer defaults, overdrafts, and repayment behavior.
• Utilize predictive analytics, machine learning, and statistical techniques (e.g., logistic regression, decision trees, neural networks) to assess creditworthiness.
• Design risk-based pricing models and credit scorecards to optimize risk-adjusted returns.
• Work with underwriting teams to refine risk acceptance criteria and credit policies.
• Monitor credit portfolio performance, track delinquency trends, and propose corrective actions.
• Monitor suspicious transactions, unusual account activity, and fraud patterns using risk analytics tools.
• Collaborate with fraud prevention teams and transaction monitoring systems to implement proactive fraud detection measures.
• Investigate fraud cases and recommend fraud mitigation strategies.
• Ensure compliance with financial regulations such as Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML) requirements.
• Stay up to date with payment network compliance rules (Visa, NACHA for ACH transactions, etc.).
• Support audits and regulatory examinations by preparing risk assessments and compliance reports.
• Assist in drafting and maintaining credit risk, fraud risk, and operational risk policies and procedures.
• Analyze risk exposure, transaction trends, credit losses, and fraud metrics to assess business vulnerabilities.
• Prepare risk reports and dashboards for senior management and board-level committees.
• Perform quantitative and qualitative risk analysis to measure risk impact and recommend mitigation strategies.
• Develop and track key risk indicators (KRIs) to ensure timely risk identification.
• Develop and participate in risk scenario analysis and crisis management exercises.
• Respond to major fraud incidents, credit losses, security breaches, or operational disruptions to minimize financial and reputational damage.
• Collaborate with operations, compliance, finance, underwriting, and IT teams to implement risk control measures.
• Train employees and partners on risk awareness, fraud prevention techniques, credit risk assessment, and compliance obligations.
• Act as a subject matter expert (SME) for risk-related inquiries and business decisions.

Key Competencies

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to present risk findings to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Strong problem-solving and critical-thinking skills, especially in identifying potential risks and designing mitigation strategies.
• Excellent teamwork and collaboration skills to work with cross-functional teams in a dynamic environment.
• Proactive and adaptable in fast-paced environments with evolving regulations.
• Highest standards of accuracy and precision; highly organized.
• Leadership skills
• Creative thinker
• Analytical
• Organized
• Highly driven
• Business acumen

Interactions

Direct Report - N/A

Indirect Report - N/A

Other Internal/External Interactions - N/A

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in finance, Risk Management, Business, Business Analytics, Economics, or a related field required.
• 5 years of experience in risk management, fraud detection, compliance, or financial services, preferably in prepaid debit cards, payment processing, or retail banking required.
• Experience working with banks, FinTech companies, consumer lending or payment processors preferred.
• Deep knowledge of card services risk management, including prepaid debit cards, DDA checking accounts, ACH, wire transfers, and payment processing risks required.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools such as Excel, SQL, Python, R, SAS, DataRobot, as well as business intelligence tools such as Tableau and Power BI required.
• Experience with risk modeling, data analytics, and fraud detection and prevention systems required.
• Knowledge of regulatory frameworks like BSA/AML, Reg E, and UDAAP preferred.
• Strong ability to analyze complex data and translate findings into actionable recommendations required.

Physical Demands

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the major responsibilities.

While performing the duties of this job, the employee is regularly required to sit, stand or walk; use hands to finger, handle, or feel; reach with hands and arms; stoop or bend; and talk or hear. The employee must occasionally lift and/or move up to 50 lbs. Must have appropriate vision to see up close, and at a distance with ability to adjust vision and focus.

Position Type/Expected Hours of Work

This is a full-time position, days and hours of work are Monday through Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. CT. This position might require after hours and weekend work.

Work Environment

The work environment characteristics described here are representative of those an employee encounters while performing the essential functions of this job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. The noise level in some work environments can be moderate.

Disclaimer

The above information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted, as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

EEO Statement

Populus Financial Group is an equal opportunity employer and complies with all applicable federal, state, and local fair employment practices laws. In compliance with applicable law, Populus Financial Group does not discriminate against any applicant or employee on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, sexual orientation, gender (including gender nonconformity and status as a transgender or transsexual individual), national origin or ancestry, ethnicity, age, physical or mental disability, citizenship, past, current, or prospective service in the uniformed services, genetic information, pregnancy status, or any other protected classification. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, training, promotions, discipline, compensation, benefits, and termination of employment.