Mastercard has announced the appointment of Rajesh Mani as the new Country Manager for Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Mani took office in March, succeeding Santosh Kumar, who has transitioned to another position within the company.

Mani brings over two decades of extensive background in the payments and FinTech sectors to bear, along with his experience in government engagement, to further cultivate the company’s position as a preferred partner for government, financial institutions, digital players and merchants in Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

These countries are important markets for the company, given their growth potential and the governments’ supportive policy push towards digitalisation.

Mani will report to Vikas Varma, Chief Operating Officer, South Asia, Mastercard.

“I’m very confident that Rajesh’s multi-faceted payments background will be of great value to our customers, partners and the team in Sri Lanka and Maldives. As these markets continue to develop and evolve rapidly, Rajesh is very well placed to support our partners towards building a vibrant digital ecosystem in these geographies,” Varma was quoted in a statement, as saying.

Priorly in Singapore, Mani led Mastercard’s delivery of domestic payment system infrastructure enhancements in Indonesia. In addition, he led a number of Mastercard’s high impact digital partnerships with key clients in Southeast Asia, including Grab, Gojek and Shopee.

“… Sri Lanka and Maldives are in a state of significant momentum for Mastercard. Over the years, we have built up a strong base of active digital engagements with key partners, in addition to expanding our powerful suite of data analytics advisory services,” Mani said.

“Coupled with our core strengths as a payments technology innovator, I believe we are very well positioned to bring deep and broad value to the overall ecosystem, especially in these times as both nations fight the socio-economic impact of Covid-19.”

Mani has been with Mastercard for over six years, in both in-market as well as regional roles. Before heading to Singapore, he was Mastercard’s account relationship lead for South India and parts of West India and is said to be instrumental in establishing the company’s Bangalore office.

Prior to Mastercard, he held leadership positions at Airtel, American Express and ITC.