Mastercard strengthens Asia Pacific leadership with six senior executive appointments
Mastercard has strengthened its leadership team across the Asia Pacific region through six senior executive appointments as part of its strategy to accelerate growth in AI-powered commerce, commercial and B2B payments, and data-driven services, while enhancing its ability to support customers in an increasingly digital payments landscape.
The company said the new appointments combine experienced external executives with internal leaders who bring deep institutional knowledge, reinforcing Mastercard’s focus on innovation, customer engagement, and the expansion of digital payment solutions across the region.
Among the appointments, Joyce Po joined Mastercard as Executive Vice President, Core Payments, Asia Pacific, where she will oversee the company's core payments business, including consumer products, digital platforms, merchant acceptance, payment networks, account-to-account payments, payment optimization solutions, and digital assets. Abhinav Bhatt was appointed General Counsel for Asia Pacific, while Dr. Peter Rubejšek continues in his role as Executive Vice President, Market Development, leading strategic partnerships with merchants, financial institutions, fintech companies, governments, and regulators.
The leadership changes also include Paul Monnington, who heads Mastercard’s operations across Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific Islands, and a reorganization of the company’s Southeast Asia business into two regional divisions. Under the new structure, Phaenna Bothin leads Western Southeast Asia, covering Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, while Donald Ong heads Eastern Southeast Asia, overseeing Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines.
Mastercard said the appointments come as Asia Pacific experiences rapid growth in AI-enabled commerce, digital wallets, tokenization technologies, and next-generation payment experiences, making the region one of the company's most strategically important markets for the future of digital payments.
According to Mastercard, the diverse expertise of the newly appointed executives will strengthen the company's ability to deliver innovative payment solutions, deepen customer relationships, expand strategic partnerships, and support the continued evolution of the digital payments ecosystem across Asia Pacific.
