Mastercard has announced the appointment of Nikhil Sahni as its new division president, south Asia and country corporate officer, India, said a statement today.

Sahni will be taking over from Porush Singh, who is relocating to Singapore and assuming a new role within the company.

Sahni joins Mastercard with nearly 25 years of experience across strategy, investment banking, corporate, commercial, SME, retail, branch, and government banking. In his role, he will oversee the firm’s operations, and position the company’s extensive suite of products, solutions and services across the sub-continent, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Maldives and Bhutan, in addition to India.

Ari Sarker, co-president, Asia Pacific, Mastercard  expressed “Nikhil has a proven track record of consistently building domestically relevant businesses and cultivating mutually beneficial partnerships across the public and private sectors,”.

“His extensive experience in India’s financial services sector will be instrumental for us as Mastercard continues to strategically focus on providing the technology, infrastructure and innovation needed to build a vibrant digital payment ecosystem across South Asia.”

Sahni’s most recent role was as senior group president, agriculture, government and MNC banking and knowledge banking. He was a part of Yes Bank’s founding team, where he spent over 17 years managing various businesses and products, both at a regional and national level. He began his professional journey with L&T, after which he joined The Times Group. His other professional experience includes working with Rabo India Finance (a 100% subsidiary of Rabobank).

“I am inspired by Mastercard’s mission to power a digital payment ecosystem that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Joining a company that has deep roots in, and an even deeper commitment to, South Asia, is an exciting opportunity, especially when you consider the tremendous potential that the sub-region holds,” expressed Sahni.