Head of Payment Sponsorship

Our client is a leading sponsor bank providing banking infrastructure, compliance, and payment capabilities to financial technology companies. They are seeking a Head of Payment Sponsorship to lead the strategic direction, product roadmap, and growth of the bank's payments business.

This executive will determine where the bank should expand its payment capabilities, guide the development and implementation of new products, and represent the bank's payments offering in meetings with fintech companies and prospective partners. The role spans card sponsorship, debit and credit programs, RTP, FedNow, ACH, wires, instant payments, and emerging payment capabilities.

The Head of Payments will serve as a senior payments subject-matter expert, build relationships across the payments ecosystem, and work with executive leadership to align the payments strategy with the bank's broader fintech, lending, deposit, and commercial banking businesses.

What You Will Do

• Set the strategic direction and product roadmap for the bank's payments business.
• Identify opportunities to expand the bank's capabilities across card sponsorship, debit and credit programs, faster payments, merchant acquiring, and other payment products.
• Guide the development and implementation of new payment products and capabilities.
• Support business development by participating directly in prospect, fintech partner, and strategic relationship meetings.
• Serve as the bank's payments subject-matter expert during sales and partnership discussions.
• Represent the bank's payments capabilities to fintech companies, prospective partners, payment processors, program managers, card networks, and other industry participants.
• Build and manage strategic relationships across the payments ecosystem.
• Provide strategic direction for BIN sponsorship, card issuing, processor relationships, card-network requirements, and fintech payment programs.
• Help evaluate new processors, platforms, networks, partners, and payment technologies.
• Provide strategic guidance for RTP, FedNow, ACH, wires, push-to-card, and other instant-payment capabilities.
• Evaluate product economics, partnership structures, market opportunities, and competitive positioning.
• Translate market opportunities into initiatives aligned with the bank's infrastructure, risk appetite, compliance requirements, and regulatory responsibilities.
• Partner with implementation, operations, technology, risk, compliance, legal, lending, deposit, and commercial banking teams to move payment initiatives from strategy through launch.
• Present payment strategies, opportunities, roadmaps, and business performance to executive leadership and the Board.
• Monitor market, network, regulatory, and technology developments affecting sponsor banking and payments.

What You Bring

• Leadership experience across payments, sponsor banking, fintech, card issuing, payment processing, or related financial services.
• Strong knowledge of card sponsorship, BIN sponsorship, debit and credit card programs, card networks, processors, and program managers.
• Experience developing and implementing payment products or programs.
• Knowledge of RTP, FedNow, ACH, wires, push-to-card, and other payment rails.
• Experience working with fintech companies, embedded-finance programs, or sponsor-bank partnerships.
• Experience supporting business development, prospect engagement, and strategic partnerships as a payments subject-matter expert.
• Strong understanding of payment economics, pricing, partnership structures, risk, compliance, and operational requirements.
• Established relationships across the payments and fintech ecosystem.
• Ability to communicate payment strategies and technical concepts to prospective partners, executive leadership, and the Board.
• Experience working across product, implementation, technology, operations, risk, compliance, and commercial teams.
• Authorized to work in the United States and residing in the Eastern or Central time zone.