Former SBI Chief Rajnish Kumar appointed Chairman of Mastercard India

Leading credit card company Mastercard announced on Thursday, September 14, that it has appointed Rajnish Kumar, former Chairman of the State Bank of India (SBI), as the 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, Mastercard said in a statement.

"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," said Ari Sarker, President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.

The veteran banker has nearly four decades of experience in India's largest bank. He held various leadership roles in the bank managing critical operations across India, the UK and Canada. He is also widely credited for spearheading the YONO platform. He concluded his three-year term as SBI Chairman in October 2020.

Mastercard offers a range of payment transaction processing and other related-payment services (such as travel-related payments and bookings). The company has connection across 210 countries.

‘’With its relentless focus on partnering for progress and driving prosperity through inclusive growth, Mastercard has the technologies, capabilities, resources, and heart to contribute greatly to India's vibrant payments technology landscape'', said Rajnish Kumar.

The US-based card company has faced a regulatory curb by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), which barred Mastercard in 2021 from issuing debit and credit cards to new domestic customers over compliance issues regarding storage of payment system data. The ban was lifted in June 2022.

Mastercard has said that it sees India as a key growth market and has invested $2 billion in the country since 2014 to build technology centres and support innovation in digital payments.