Digital channels now carry a growing share of retail payments and savings across East Africa and beyond, and the institutions behind them range from long-established banks to young fintech firms with small compliance teams. The risk profile is distinctive: high transaction volumes, thin margins, reliance on agents and cloud providers, and exposure to fraud, money laundering, cyber attack and mistreatment of vulnerable customers. Supervisors increasingly expect clear accountability for these risks at board level and evidence that compliance is built into products rather than added later.

The Governance and Compliance in Digital Financial Services, Payments & Fintech Risk Training Course shows how to build that accountability. Participants examine governance structures and the three lines model in a digital setting, then map the regulatory obligations that typically attach to payment, e-money and digital credit licences. Core sessions apply the FATF risk-based approach to mobile money and virtual asset activity, explain proportionate customer due diligence and digital identity, and cover alert handling and suspicious activity reporting. The programme continues with disclosure and complaints, protection of customer balances held in trust, privacy obligations, information security standards, and the oversight of agents, outsourcing partners and APIs.

The final day turns to compliance monitoring, testing and regulatory reporting. Throughout, participants work on a case fintech firm, producing a compliance risk assessment and a board-level oversight framework.

On completing the course, participants will be able to:

• Design governance structures and board reporting suited to digital financial services providers.
• Map licensing, prudential and conduct obligations for payment, e-money and digital credit activities.
• Apply the FATF risk-based approach to mobile money, remittances and virtual asset services.
• Implement tiered KYC, e-KYC and transaction monitoring proportionate to customer risk.
• Assess safeguarding arrangements for customer funds held in trust or escrow accounts.
• Evaluate consumer protection, disclosure and complaints handling in digital channels.
• Oversee agents, outsourcing providers and API partners through due diligence and contracts.
• Build a compliance monitoring and testing plan with clear regulatory reporting lines.

Participants typically come from compliance, risk, assurance and supervisory roles such as:

• Chief compliance officers and compliance managers at payment and e-money providers
• Money laundering reporting officers in banks and mobile money operators
• Risk managers and chief risk officers at fintech companies
• Internal auditors reviewing digital channels
• Legal counsel and company secretaries in financial technology firms
• Product managers launching digital lending, wallets or payment services
• Central bank payment system oversight and fintech supervision staff
• Board members and non-executive directors of digital finance businesses
• Information security and data protection officers in financial institutions

Participants complete the course holding:

• A regulatory obligations register template for a payment or e-money business.
• A compliance risk assessment of the case fintech firm.
• A tiered KYC and customer risk rating matrix.
• A safeguarding reconciliation checklist for customer funds.
• An agent and third-party due diligence questionnaire.
• A board compliance report format with key risk indicators.
• A compliance monitoring and testing calendar for the coming year.

Every session is anchored in a fictional but realistic fintech firm, so participants apply each control to the same business as it grows. The approach combines:

• Briefings on standards and supervisory expectations from experienced practitioners
• Document reviews of sample policies, licences, contracts and reconciliation reports
• Typology workshops on fraud and money laundering patterns in digital channels
• A mock regulatory inspection with findings and remediation planning
• Group drafting of board reports and compliance testing plans
• Peer exchange between bank, operator, fintech and supervisor participants

Delegates who attend all sessions and complete the case firm deliverables, including the risk assessment and board oversight framework, are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion issued by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.

The certificate confirms participation in structured professional training and can be presented to employers or supervisors as part of a continuing development record.