Mastercard Appoints Veteran Banker Rajnish Kumar As Mastercard India Chairman

Mastercard appointed veteran banker Rajnish Kumar, former chairman of State Bank of India (SBI), as chairman of Mastercard India.

Kumar will guide Mastercard’s South Asia executive leadership team led by Gautam Aggarwal, division president for South Asia & Country Corporate Officer, India, in navigating the domestic payments landscape, the global payment processor said in a statement.

With Kumar’s supervision, Mastercard will seek to further digital payments adoption and acceptance in the market, it added.

“Kumar will be keenly involved in augmenting the local leadership team in its efforts to expand our domestic footprint, while bolstering Mastercard’s ongoing commitment to forging strategic partnerships with stakeholders across the payments ecosystem – from banks to fintechs to governments, non-profits and more,” Mastercard’s Asia Pacific President Ari Sarker said.

Mastercard said Kumar, with nearly four decades of service with SBI, has held a wide range of leadership roles at the state-run lender and its subsidiaries.

Kumar, who concluded a three-year term as SBI’s chairman in October 2020, also spearheaded the development of the bank’s digital platform, YONO, it added.

Kumar holds several directorships, including seats on the boards of several institutions and corporates like HSBC Asia Pacific, Larsen & Toubro and Brookfield Property Management, according to the statement.

He also chairs the board of BharatPe and board of governors of Management Development Institute (MDI), it said.

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