Card Schemes Costs Consultant

Card Schemes Costs Consultant

Country: Spain

**AQUANIMA is looking for a CARD SCHEMES COSTS CONSULTANT **, based in our BOADILLA DEL MONTE (MADRID) **office.
**WHY YOU SHOULD CONSIDER THIS OPPORTUNITY
At **Aquanima **we provide a valuable service to our customers. We are part of the Santander Group and we seek to achieve maximum efficiency for the Group and for external clients, through the management of purchasing processes. As our ultimate and main objective is to maximize savings for our clients, we offer our expertise in purchasing in various expense categories in the 12 countries where we have a presence. In addition, our capabilities allow us to offer other value-added services such as 360º supplier management and contract management. We are a strategic partner to our customers and suppliers, creating long-term relationships with them and helping them to achieve greater efficiency in their day-to-day operations.

Our mission is to contribute to help more people and businesses prosper. We embrace a strong risk culture and all our professionals at all levels are expected to take a proactive and responsible approach toward risk management.

Santander is proud of being an organization where there are equal opportunities regardless of age, gender, disability, civil status, race, religion or sexual orientation.

**WHAT YOU WILL BE DOING**

As a transactional **Card Schemes Costs Consultant **of major brands (Mastercard, Visa, and American Express), **your main objective is to monitor, analyze, and validate charges to ensure their accuracy, detect cost-saving opportunities, and optimize interchange fees. **You will be part of a Center of Excellence operating this service, provided by Aquanima.

**You will be responsible for providing insights to Santander business and operational units. **To do so, you will use your strong analytical skills to perform quantitative transactional and cost data analyses. From these analyses, you will present your recommendations and opportunities to solve errors and optimize related cost and interchange charges.**

In this role, you will leverage your strong analytical and communication skills to deliver actionable insights and recommendations. You will work closely with internal teams and external stakeholders, ensuring compliance with card scheme mandates and promoting cost efficiency across operations.

**Key Responsibilities**:

- Reconcile payments with issuer-provided reports and investigate discrepancies in tariff charges.
- Conduct detailed analyses of invoices, clearing files, and portfolio reports to identify errors, cost-saving opportunities, and potential efficiencies.
- Present observations, insights, and recommendations to internal business units and stakeholders.
- Stay informed of updates to Card Schemes’ tariffs and mandates, assessing and communicating their impact on operations.
- Prepare detailed reports and presentations on the financial impact of tariff changes.
- Support and train internal teams to understand Card Schemes’ fees and their operational implications.
- Create and maintain internal documentation, including standard operating procedures, tariff reconciliation guidelines, and best practices.
- Track the execution and impact of agreed recommendations and initiatives.

EXPERIENCE
- **From 2 to 5 years of experience in roles related to Card Schemes’ processing, interchange fees, and cost optimization.**
- **Familiarity with payment platforms and banking systems for transaction processing.**
- Management consulting experience is a plus.
- **Bilingual proficiency in English and Spanish (Portuguese is a strong advantage).**

SKILLS & KNOWLEDGE

Technical Skills:

- **Proficiency in data analysis tools and dashboards such as SQL, Power BI, QlikView and advanced Excel.**
- **Knowledge of Card Schemes’ platforms and relational databases for information exploitation.**

Soft Skills:

- Effective communication skills for engaging with internal and external stakeholders.
- Strong attention to detail with the ability to interpret and present large data sets clearly and critically.
- Teamwork and project management experience.
- Strong analytical, quantitative, and communication skills.
- Ability to identify opportunities and drive the execution of cost-optimization initiatives.

This position offers a challenging and rewarding opportunity to drive meaningful cost efficiencies while supporting the strategic goals of the organization. This position will be based in Madrid.