Underwriting Specialist

Key Responsibilities

Application Review & Risk Assessment

• Conduct thorough analysis of merchant applications, including financial statements, processing history, and KYC documentation.
• Verify business legitimacy through entity formation documents, EIN verification, and ownership structure validation.
• Evaluate creditworthiness, processing behavior, and potential exposure risk for both credit card and ACH transactions.
• Flag and escalate high-risk or unusual business models to the Director of CRU for deeper review.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation of underwriting decisions, ensuring compliance with internal policies and regulatory standards.

Client Communication & Guidance

• Interact with merchants to gather missing information, clarify discrepancies, or provide feedback on required improvements.
• Respond promptly and professionally to application-related inquiries and proactively guide applicants through the process.
• Educate merchants on underwriting expectations and provide tailored advice on best practices for application success.

Internal Collaboration

• Partner with Compliance and Risk Analysts to support deeper risk investigations or chargeback-related assessments.
• Collaborate with CRU leadership to refine risk models, underwriting criteria, and approval matrices.
• Mentor and support junior team members by reviewing applications, offering feedback, and leading knowledge-sharing sessions.

Requirements

• 2–5 years of experience in KYC/KYB, compliance, onboarding, or underwriting within a payments, fintech, or financial services organization.
• Well-versed in identity verification protocols, including the review of business formation documents, beneficial ownership, and government-issued identification.
• Working knowledge of AML/BSA regulatory frameworks, sanctions screening (OFAC), and customer due diligence (CDD/EDD) requirements.
• Confident reviewing business models and legal structures, and can validate entity legitimacy and expected transaction behavior.
• Detail-oriented and understand the importance of regulatory adherence across onboarding and ongoing monitoring.
• Comfortable communicating with clients to collect and validate sensitive documentation, while maintaining a high degree of professionalism and care.
• Thrive in a collaborative, fast-paced environment and bring a mindset of continuous improvement to workflows, tools, and procedures.

Nice-to-Haves

• Experience with compliance tools such as Alloy, Middesk, ComplyAdvantage, or similar vendor platforms.