Reconciliation Analyst (Bede)

Role Overview

Reconciliation Analyst at Zain Group's fintech subsidiary Bede, located in Bahrain. This role monitors, reconciles, and validates the end-to-end financial and operational integrity of all transaction flows across Bede's product portfolio.

Company Overview

Bede is the fintech arm of Zain Bahrain, a dynamic startup revolutionizing personal finance through Bahrain's first Shariah-compliant Islamic financing app. Licensed and regulated by the Central Bank of Bahrain, Bede is committed to creating an inclusive platform that offers practical solutions tailored to real customer needs.

Role Purpose

The Reconciliation Analyst acts as Bede's financial control layer, ensuring that every financial event from product disbursement through to customer account credit, repayment collection, and system reflection in the Loan Management System is processed accurately, completely, and in line with how each product and process was designed to operate. The role protects revenue integrity and ensures process controls function as designed across all systems and products.

Key Responsibilities

Process Understanding & Data Access

• Engage with business and IT stakeholders to develop thorough understanding of every product process end-to-end.
• Document expected flows, systems involved, data generated at each step, and points where financial entries should be created or updated.
• Work with IT and BI/BA teams to identify available data and access requirements.
• Raise data gaps formally and work with relevant teams to establish necessary access and extracts.
• Maintain up-to-date process and data flow documentation for each product line.
• Use process knowledge as foundation for designing reconciliation and validation frameworks.

End-to-End Transaction Reconciliation

• Perform daily, weekly, and monthly reconciliations across all Bede product lines to verify accurate transaction processing from initiation through completion.
• Reconcile microfinance disbursements through customer account credit, validate commodity purchase entries, and confirm repayment instalments in the Loan Management System.
• Reconcile prepaid card load transactions, spending activity, fees, and settlement entries between card management system and general ledger.
• Verify wallet top-up, transfer, and withdrawal flows.
• Reconcile remittances transfer instructions, partner settlement entries, and customer debit and credit records.
• Extend reconciliation framework to cover new products from day one.

Revenue Leakage Detection & Process Controls

• Monitor transaction flows using Tableau dashboards and financial reports to identify discrepancies, missing entries, timing differences, and potential revenue leakage.
• Investigate anomalies independently by tracing discrepancies through system logs, transaction records, and process documentation.
• Maintain structured log of all identified discrepancies including root cause, financial impact, resolution steps, and closure date.
• Escalate critical findings — significant financial exposure, systemic errors, or unresolved discrepancies beyond defined thresholds — to Finance Manager promptly.
• Monitor that internal financial controls operate as designed and flag any control gaps or failures.

Process Integrity Monitoring

• Validate that all system-to-system interfaces and automated processes are operating in line with design and configuration.
• Cross-check system-generated entries against expected outputs to identify processing errors, missed postings, or incorrect amounts.
• Liaise with Technology and Operations teams to investigate and resolve system-related processing issues affecting financial accuracy.
• Participate in change management reviews for any system change, migration, or product update with financial or transactional impact.

Reporting & KPI Tracking

• Prepare clear, timely reconciliation reports for the Finance Manager covering status, open items, ageing of discrepancies, and resolution progress.
• Maintain and update Tableau dashboards tracking reconciliation performance, revenue leakage metrics, and control effectiveness.
• Contribute to development and tracking of KPIs including reconciliation completeness, leakage detected versus recovered, and open item resolution timelines.
• Produce periodic management reports summarizing financial control status across all product lines.

Collaboration & Continuous Improvement

• Work closely with BI/BA team to ensure correct data availability, accurate extraction, and structure to support effective reconciliation and monitoring.
• Coordinate with Revenue Assurance function to apply correct methodology, control frameworks, and best practices.
• Raise data quality or system reporting issues to BI/BA team for investigation and resolution.
• Contribute to development of automated reconciliation controls and dashboards as Bede's systems mature.
• Document all reconciliation procedures, control checks, and investigation steps in structured and accessible format.
• Identify opportunities to improve efficiency, coverage, and accuracy of reconciliation process and present proposals to Finance Manager.
• Support internal and external audit activities by providing reconciliation documentation, evidence, and explanations.
• Stay current with best practices in financial reconciliation, revenue assurance, and process controls relevant to fintech and regulated financial services.
• Perform any other tasks as requested.

Qualifications & Experience

• Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Islamic Finance, Banking, Management Information Systems, or a related field.
• 3 to 5 years of experience in reconciliation, financial operations, audit, or a related analytical role.
• Strong academic performance and analytical project work will be considered in lieu of experience.
• Preferred experience in fintech, digital banking, or Islamic finance.
• Preferred experience using Tableau or a similar BI/dashboard tool.
• Preferred experience in audit, reconciliation, or financial controls.

Skills & Competencies

• Understanding of financial transaction flows, accounting entries, and end-to-end process logic.
• Exposure to financial systems, reconciliation processes, or data analysis through internship, coursework, or project work.
• Familiarity with Tableau or similar BI/reporting tools.
• Strong analytical and numerical reasoning skills.
• High attention to detail and accuracy in financial data work.
• Ability to understand, interpret, and cross-reference financial reports and dashboards.
• Structured approach to documenting findings, discrepancies, and resolutions.
• Strong written and verbal communication for reporting and escalation.
• Understanding of end-to-end transaction and process flows in a financial services context.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and follow through on open items.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel for data comparison, analysis, and reporting.

Additional Information

• The role reports to the Finance Manager.
• Coverage extends across Bede's full current product suite — microfinance, prepaid cards, wallet services, and remittances — and will extend to all future products as they are introduced, including insurance, investment, and any other financial services Bede launches.