Bank Protection Card Fraud Strategy Specialist

First Merchants Corporation•Fort Wayne, IN

About The Position

First Merchants Bank is seeking a Bank Protection Card Fraud Strategy Specialist to prevent, detect, investigate, and mitigate debit card fraud across the organization. The position serves as a subject matter expert in card fraud strategy execution, elevated dispute research and investigations, and card-related fraud prevention technologies. The specialist investigates customer-reported fraud and debit card disputes; administers fraud tools; monitors fraud trends; recommends strategy enhancements; and collaborates with vendors, payment networks, and internal business partners to reduce fraud losses and improve customer experience. The role also supports card fraud incident response, dispute resolution, customer and employee assistance, fraud awareness and training, procedural development, leadership recommendations, audits, examinations, and regulatory reviews related to fraud operations and card dispute management.

Requirements

High school diploma or equivalent.
One to three years of card fraud experience.
Experience working with debit card fraud investigations and/or fraud detection systems.
Experience analyzing transaction activity and fraud trends.

Nice To Haves

Associate's or Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice, Criminology, Business, Finance, Risk Management, or a related field.
Experience with FIS card fraud platforms and fraud strategy administration.
Experience with Visa, Mastercard, 3DS, VCAS/Cardinal, MDES, or Mastercom platforms.

Responsibilities

Monitor card fraud trends, attack patterns, fraud losses, and emerging threats, and recommend mitigation strategies.
Maintain and optimize debit card fraud detection rules, thresholds, and monitoring processes in partnership with FIS and other service providers.
Identify opportunities to strengthen fraud controls while balancing client experience and operational efficiency.
Analyze fraud metrics and performance data to support strategy recommendations and loss-reduction initiatives.
Participate in developing, testing, and implementing fraud prevention strategies and system enhancements.
Support incident response involving card compromise events, account takeover activity, and emerging fraud threats.
Investigate elevated debit card fraud claims and disputes to determine validity and ensure compliance with applicable regulations and network requirements.
Review fraud alerts, transaction activity, and account behavior to identify suspicious activity and potential fraud losses.
Conduct customer interviews and gather evidence related to fraudulent transactions.
Document investigations in case management systems and maintain complete case records.
Prepare clear case narratives, recommendations, and resolution documentation.
Partner with Fraud Investigations, Card Dispute Operations, and other risk teams on complex fraud cases.
Assist customers and bank personnel with questions about card fraud, disputes, and fraud prevention.
Administer card fraud prevention and authentication tools as a subject matter expert.
Use MDES to support mobile wallet fraud prevention, tokenization controls, digital wallet monitoring, and step-up authentication processes.
Use VCAS (Visa Consumer Authentication Service/Cardinal) and 3DS technologies to support e-commerce fraud investigations and authentication reviews.
Use device and transaction intelligence from authentication platforms, when available, to support investigations.
Use Mastercom and related dispute management platforms to support dispute resolution and determine financial responsibility.
Collaborate with FIS, Mastercard, Visa, and other vendors on fraud controls, product enhancements, fraud events, and strategy recommendations.
Participate in vendor meetings, product reviews, implementation projects, and ongoing fraud solution enhancements.
Partner with Consumer Banking, Deposit Operations, Card Services, Compliance, Risk Management, and Bank Protection teams to improve card fraud prevention.
Assist with fraud awareness initiatives, procedural development, and employee training.
Provide leadership with recommendations regarding card fraud trends, strategic initiatives, and technology investments.
Support audits, examinations, and regulatory reviews related to fraud operations and card dispute management.