Former SBI chief Rajnish Kumar named Mastercard India chairman

On Thursday, Mastercard India made an official announcement regarding the appointment of Rajnish Kumar, the former head of SBI, as its non-executive chairman. In this vital non-executive advisory capacity, Kumar will provide guidance to Mastercard's South Asia executive leadership team, led by Gautam Aggarwal, who serves as Division President for South Asia & Country Corporate Officer, India. Mastercard India's statement highlights Kumar's role in helping them navigate the dynamic domestic payments landscape.

"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.

Expressing his views, Kumar mentioned that Mastercard's unwavering dedication to collaborating for progress and driving prosperity through inclusive growth positions the company with the necessary technologies, capabilities, resources, and determination to make significant contributions to India's dynamic payments technology landscape.


Kumar currently sits on the boards of HSBC Asia Pacific, L&T Infotech, Hero MotoCorp and BharatPe. His stint with SBI spanned 40 years from where he retired as the chairman in October 2020. In his prior assignments, he had also served as the Managing Director of the National Banking Group, and the Managing Director of Compliance & Risk at SBI.

Kumar was previously appointed as a non-executive director at HSBC's Hong Kong-headquartered Asia unit; as a senior advisor to Baring Private Equity Asia, and has also served as an advisor to Kotak Investment Advisors. He has recently joined the international strategic advisory board of Dun & Bradstreet, a global provider of business decisioning data and analytics.