MasterCard appoints new senior executives

Ari Sarker, Neel Nilakantan and Ruben Salazar were appointed as Group Head, Global Network Products, Regional Head of Prepaid Products, and Head of Consumer Credit Products, respectively.

According to MasterCard, all three will be based in Singapore.

“I am pleased to have Ari, Neel and Ruben on our team. I look forward to working with them to grow and diversify MasterCard’s products and solutions in the rapidly changing marketplace,” said Yunsok Chang, Group Executive, Global Products and Solutions, APMEA, MasterCard Worldwide. “We have a strong team that is equipped with deep knowledge of the payments industry. With this team, we are in an excellent position to help our customers capitalize on new business opportunities and build on the momentum of growing their payment portfolio.”

Ari Sarker has been named Group Head, Global Network Products. In his new role, Mr. Sarker is responsible for driving the growth of MasterCard network processing business across the payment value chain. Working in close collaboration with senior executive in the region, he will also lead, manage and identify new equity investments opportunities.

Prior to joining MasterCard, Mr. Sarker spent 13 years with GE Capital in India and the US where he held lead roles in functions such as Private Equity, Commercial Finance and Financial Planning & Analysis. He started his career with Price Waterhouse in London with responsibilities in Audit and Business Advisory. He has a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce from Delhi University and an MBA from Cardiff Business School, UK. Mr. Sarker is a Chartered Accountant.

Neel Nilakantan has been appointed as Regional Head of Prepaid Products for the APMEA region. In this role, Mr. Nilakantan will leverage his deep experience in the payments industry to drive go-to-market Prepaid strategies and activities. He will work in concert with the regional leadership team in the development and execution of innovative customer solutions. Prior to his new appointment, Mr. Nilakantan spent ten years at the Visa regional office in Singapore. There he held senior leadership positions overseeing areas such as Prepaid, Debit and Consumer Solutions.

Prior to joining the payments industry, Mr. Nilakantan had a decade long career in sales, product management and business development within the financial services and technology sectors. He had worked in global financial institutions such as, Citibank, Standard Chartered Bank and Mashreqbank. He holds a Bachelor’s degree in Science from the Delhi University, India and an MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore.

Ruben Salazar has been appointed as Head of Consumer Credit Products for the APMEA region. In his new role, Mr. Salazar will lead the strategic development and execution of credit products. He has also been tasked with driving MasterCard’s affluent strategy and providing solutions to serve the needs of the affluent segment.

Prior to joining the MasterCard team in APMEA, Mr. Salazar was Cards Managing Director at Barclays Spain. Before joining Barclays, he was Senior Business Leader, Consumer Credit Product Development, MasterCard, Latin America and Caribbean region. He has deep experience working in the financial services industry having held senior positions at global companies such as Citigroup and Diners Club International.

Mr. Salazar has a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing from the University of Nueva San Salvador, El Salvador, a Postgraduate degree in Journalism Studies from the University of New Mexico, USA and an MBA from Florida International University, USA.