Course Introduction
The Card Payment and Merchant Operations Auditing Training Course provides a practical framework for auditing card payment ecosystems, merchant acquiring operations, transaction processing, authorization, clearing, settlement, reconciliation, and merchant account management. The course equips auditors and payment professionals with practical techniques for evaluating transaction integrity, financial accuracy, operational controls, fraud prevention, and payment security.
The course examines the complete card payment lifecycle, from merchant onboarding and terminal or payment gateway configuration through transaction authorization, capture, clearing, settlement, fees, reconciliation, chargebacks, refunds, reversals, and merchant funding. Participants learn how to identify critical control points and assess whether card transactions are accurately processed, appropriately authorized, properly settled, and correctly recorded in financial systems.
Particular emphasis is placed on merchant operations and transaction testing. Participants examine merchant master data, merchant identification, settlement accounts, transaction limits, terminal controls, pricing arrangements, interchange and acquiring fees, transaction records, settlement files, chargeback records, refunds, and exception reports. The course demonstrates how substantive testing and analytical procedures can be used to assess transaction occurrence, completeness, accuracy, authorization, cut-off, classification, and financial reporting.
The training addresses fraud and financial risks affecting card payment environments, including card-not-present fraud, counterfeit cards, stolen credentials, merchant collusion, transaction laundering, refund abuse, friendly fraud, fraudulent chargebacks, terminal manipulation, settlement diversion, and unauthorized merchant activity. Participants learn to apply professional skepticism, transaction tracing, exception analysis, fraud indicators, and evidence-based investigation techniques.
Modern merchant ecosystems increasingly rely on payment gateways, mobile point-of-sale systems, e-commerce platforms, tokenization, contactless payments, APIs, digital wallets, automated fraud monitoring, and real-time transaction processing. The course therefore addresses cybersecurity, access management, encryption, system interfaces, automated controls, data integrity, artificial intelligence, payment analytics, and emerging technology risks affecting card payment operations.
Through practical exercises and case studies, participants develop the ability to plan card payment audits, evaluate merchant controls, test transaction populations, reconcile settlement records, assess fees and commissions, investigate chargebacks and exceptions, review payment security controls, and report control deficiencies. The course emphasizes risk-focused auditing, reliable evidence, effective recommendations, remediation monitoring, and continuous improvement of card payment and merchant operations.
Duration
5 days
Who Should Attend
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Internal auditors responsible for card payment, merchant acquiring, and payment operations audits.
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External auditors reviewing card transactions, merchant balances, settlement accounts, and payment controls.
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Merchant acquiring managers responsible for merchant onboarding, transaction processing, and settlement.
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Card operations professionals managing authorization, clearing, settlement, chargebacks, and transaction exceptions.
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Payment operations managers overseeing card payment platforms and merchant service processes.
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Risk managers assessing card payment, merchant, operational, fraud, and financial risks.
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Fraud investigators examining card fraud, merchant collusion, chargeback abuse, and suspicious transactions.
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Compliance professionals monitoring merchant activity, payment risks, financial crime, and customer protection.
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Finance professionals responsible for merchant settlement, fee accounting, reconciliations, and financial reporting.
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Information technology auditors reviewing payment applications, interfaces, access controls, and automated processing.
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Cybersecurity professionals assessing card payment infrastructure and transaction security.
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E-commerce and digital payment professionals managing online merchant payment environments.
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Treasury professionals involved in merchant settlement, liquidity movements, and payment reconciliation.
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Quality assurance professionals reviewing card payment controls and merchant operations.
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Banking and payment professionals seeking practical expertise in card payment and merchant operations auditing.
Course Objectives
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Develop a comprehensive understanding of card payment ecosystems, merchant operations, transaction flows, acquiring processes, and related financial risks.
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Evaluate merchant onboarding, merchant master data, due diligence, account setup, terminal assignment, settlement instructions, and ongoing merchant monitoring controls.
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Audit card transaction authorization, capture, clearing, settlement, refunds, reversals, chargebacks, and exception processing throughout the payment lifecycle.
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Perform substantive testing of card transactions to assess occurrence, completeness, accuracy, authorization, timing, classification, and appropriate accounting treatment.
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Evaluate merchant settlement calculations, transaction fees, commissions, interchange-related amounts, adjustments, reserves, and other financial components.
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Reconcile card transaction records with payment processors, card schemes, merchant accounts, settlement banks, suspense accounts, and general ledger balances.
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Identify fraud risks involving card-not-present transactions, counterfeit cards, stolen credentials, merchant collusion, refund abuse, transaction laundering, and chargeback manipulation.
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Assess payment technology controls covering payment gateways, terminals, APIs, tokenization, digital wallets, system interfaces, access management, and transaction security.
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Apply data analytics and continuous monitoring techniques to identify unusual merchants, transaction patterns, refunds, chargebacks, settlement anomalies, and potential financial irregularities.
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Develop evidence-based audit findings and practical recommendations that strengthen merchant governance, transaction integrity, settlement accuracy, fraud prevention, cybersecurity, and operational resilience.
Comprehensive Course Outline
Module 1: Card Payment and Merchant Operations Audit Fundamentals
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Understanding card payment ecosystems, issuers, acquirers, merchants, processors, payment networks, and settlement institutions.
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Mapping the card transaction lifecycle from merchant initiation and authorization through capture, clearing, settlement, reconciliation, and reporting.
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Identifying financial, operational, fraud, compliance, cybersecurity, customer, and technology risks within card payment environments.
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Developing risk-based card payment audit plans that prioritize high-risk merchants, transaction populations, systems, and control processes.
Module 2: Merchant Onboarding, Governance, and Master Data Controls
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Auditing merchant applications, due diligence, business verification, ownership information, risk classification, and merchant approval procedures.
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Evaluating merchant master data, merchant identification numbers, settlement accounts, terminal assignments, pricing parameters, and status controls.
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Testing controls over merchant activation, amendment, suspension, closure, ownership changes, and settlement instruction changes.
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Assessing segregation of duties, approval controls, ongoing monitoring, merchant reviews, and escalation of high-risk merchant activity.
Module 3: Card Transaction Authorization and Processing
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Auditing point-of-sale, e-commerce, mobile, contactless, recurring, and other card transaction initiation and authorization processes.
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Evaluating transaction authentication, authorization rules, transaction limits, risk scoring, card verification, and exception handling.
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Testing transaction records for authorization status, merchant identity, card details, transaction amount, currency, date, and processing references.
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Investigating declined, reversed, duplicated, incomplete, offline, manually entered, and otherwise exceptional card transactions.
Module 4: Clearing, Settlement, and Merchant Funding
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Auditing transaction capture, clearing files, settlement calculations, merchant funding, and payment processor settlement processes.
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Reconciling transaction records with clearing files, settlement statements, merchant accounts, bank accounts, and general ledger balances.
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Testing settlement cut-off, value dates, settlement adjustments, fees, commissions, reserves, withheld amounts, and funding calculations.
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Investigating settlement differences, delayed merchant funding, duplicate settlements, unidentified receipts, suspense balances, and unreconciled items.
Module 5: Merchant Fees, Commissions, and Financial Accounting
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Auditing merchant pricing arrangements, transaction fees, service charges, commissions, discounts, and other merchant-related revenue components.
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Testing whether contractual or approved pricing parameters are accurately configured and consistently applied to eligible transactions.
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Reconciling merchant fee calculations with transaction populations, pricing tables, settlement records, accounting entries, and financial reports.
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Evaluating revenue recognition, fee accruals, adjustments, refunds, waivers, pricing overrides, and management-approved exceptions.
Module 6: Chargebacks, Refunds, Reversals, and Dispute Management
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Auditing chargeback processes, dispute intake, representment, resolution, merchant responses, and financial adjustments.
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Testing refunds and reversals for appropriate authorization, customer or merchant entitlement, supporting evidence, and accurate accounting.
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Evaluating controls over duplicate refunds, excessive refunds, refund-to-different-card risks, manual adjustments, and unauthorized transaction reversals.
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Analyzing chargeback trends, aging, dispute outcomes, merchant exposure, financial losses, and recurring operational control weaknesses.
Module 7: Card Fraud, Merchant Risk, and Financial Crime
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Identifying card fraud risks involving counterfeit cards, stolen credentials, card-not-present transactions, account takeover, and unauthorized merchant activity.
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Evaluating merchant risks involving collusion, transaction laundering, fictitious sales, prohibited activities, refund abuse, and manipulation of transaction records.
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Assessing controls for fraud monitoring, suspicious transaction detection, merchant risk scoring, alert investigation, and escalation procedures.
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Applying transaction tracing, behavioral analysis, professional skepticism, and evidence evaluation to investigate card and merchant-related fraud indicators.
Module 8: Payment Technology, Cybersecurity, and Emerging Risks
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Auditing payment gateways, card terminals, APIs, tokenization, digital wallets, mobile point-of-sale systems, and payment processing platforms.
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Evaluating access controls, privileged accounts, authentication, encryption, system interfaces, configuration management, and transaction audit trails.
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Assessing cybersecurity risks involving malware, compromised terminals, payment application vulnerabilities, API abuse, credential theft, and unauthorized system access.
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Examining emerging technologies including contactless payments, artificial intelligence, automated fraud detection, biometric authentication, and real-time payment analytics.
Module 9: Card Payment Data Analytics and Continuous Monitoring
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Applying data analytics to identify duplicate transactions, unusual merchants, abnormal transaction values, excessive refunds, suspicious chargebacks, and settlement anomalies.
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Performing population-based testing across merchant and card transaction data to identify high-risk exceptions requiring further investigation.
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Evaluating data completeness, accuracy, consistency, lineage, and reliability across merchant, processor, settlement, and accounting systems.
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Developing continuous monitoring dashboards, exception reports, risk indicators, merchant analytics, and automated audit procedures for card payment operations.
Module 10: Card Payment Audit Reporting, Remediation, and Practical Case Studies
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Preparing audit findings that connect card payment control deficiencies to evidence, financial exposure, merchant risk, customer impact, and root causes.
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Evaluating case studies involving settlement discrepancies, fraudulent merchants, chargeback abuse, unauthorized refunds, transaction manipulation, and cybersecurity incidents.
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Developing corrective actions addressing merchant governance, transaction controls, settlement processes, reconciliation, fraud monitoring, access security, and data integrity.
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Performing audit follow-up, remediation validation, escalation, closure assessment, and reporting of significant or recurring card payment control deficiencies.
Training Approach
This course will be delivered by our skilled trainers who have vast knowledge and experience as expert professionals in the fields. The course is taught in English and through a mix of theory, practical activities, group discussion and case studies. Course manuals and additional training materials will be provided to the participants upon completion of the training.
Tailor-Made Course
This course can also be tailor-made to meet organization requirement. For further inquiries, please contact us on: Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com Tel: +254 721 331 808
Training Venue
The training will be held at our Upskill Training Centre. We also offer training for a group (at a discount of 10% to 50%) at requested location all over the world. The Onsite course fee covers the course tuition, training materials, two break refreshments, buffet lunch, airport transfers, Upskill gift package, and guided tour.
Visa application, travel expenses, dinners, accommodation, insurance, and other personal expenses are catered by the participant
Certification
Participants will be issued with Upskill certificate upon completion of this course.
Airport Pickup and Accommodation
Airport pickup and accommodation is arranged upon request. For booking contact our Training Coordinator through Email: training@upskilldevelopment.com, +254 721 331 808
Terms of Payment:
Unless otherwise agreed between the two parties’ payment of the course fee should be done 3 working days before commencement of the training so as to enable us to prepare better.
