Rajnish Kumar, Ex SBI Chief Appointed Mastercard India Chairman

Mastercard India officially announced on Thursday, that Rajnish Kumar, the former Chairman of SBI, has been appointed as its Non-executive Chairman. Kumar in this crucial Non-executive advisory role, will give guidance to Mastercard’s South Asia executive leadership team, led by Gautam Aggarwal, head of Mastercard South Asia and India. Mastercard India’s statement highlights how Kumar will help them navigate the changing world of domestic payments

“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, nonprofits and more,” said the President of Mastercard Asia Pacific, Ari Sarker.

Kumar stated that Mastercard’s strong commitment to working together for progress and promoting prosperity through inclusive growth means the company has the right technologies, skills, resources, and determination to make a meaningful impact on India’s dynamic payments technology scene.

Kumar is on the boards of HSBC Asia Pacific, L&T Infotech, Hero MotoCorp, and BharatPe. He spent 40 years at SBI from where he retired as the chairman in October 2020. In his previous roles, he also worked as the Managing Director of the National Banking Group and the Managing Director of Compliance and risk at SBI.

In the past, Kumar held positions as a non-executive director at HSBC’s Asia unit based in Hong Kong, served as a senior advisor to Baring Private Equity Asia, and acted as an advisor to Kotak Investment Advisors. He has recently become a member of the international strategic advisory board of Dun & Bradstreet, a global company specialising in business decision data and analytics.