Mastercard Leads Conversations at the Digital and Innovation Workshop

Mastercard hosted over 210senior representatives from banking, financial services and retail, as well as other key stakeholders at the inaugural Digital & Innovation Workshop held at The Hilton, Colombo recently.The event is part of Mastercard’s ongoing efforts to support banks and other stakeholders in consumer payments in formulating digital and payments strategies.

Welcoming partners’ representatives to the event, R. B. Santosh Kumar, Country Manager, Sri Lanka & Maldives, Mastercard said, “We share a long standing bond with Sri Lanka. We were one of the first electronic payments processing networkto enter the island and have been present here since the late 80s. Over the years, we have been able to build strong relationships with all our partners and stakeholders and would like to thank them for their continued support.” 

Going beyond business interests, Mastercard collaborates with its local partners on a strategic advisory level too,supporting them in drivingtheir cards and digital strategies.Mastercard’sSri Lanka team has dedicated resourcesin account management, merchant relationships and business development supporting Mastercard’s global teamsand this has allowed Mastercard to work more closely with all stakeholders and serve them better.

“Inspired by the market’s passion for innovation, we strive to bring more of our emerging technologies and world class, secure payment solutions to Sri Lanka. Together,we can help accelerate Sri Lanka’s transformation into a truly cashless society. The Digital & Innovation Workshop is yet another step towards this goal,” added Santosh.

A panel of experts from Mastercard offered a sneak peek intothe next wave of Mastercard powered solutions that will berolled out in Sri Lanka together with its local partners. Sharing their learnings from around the world, these experts also sought to learn moreabout the local market from the audience.

Tobias Puehse, Vice President, Mastercard Labs, Asia Pacific introduced Mastercard Labs, the company’s global Research & Development arm dedicated to bringing innovative payment solutions to the market with greater speed. Satya Padhiary, Director of Digital Payments and Head of Push Payments, Mastercard, shed light on Masterpass QR – a fast, secure, convenient and cost-effectiveelectronic payment solution that provides a viable alternative to cash. He also spoke about Mastercard Send, a first-of-its-kind interoperable global platform that enables funds to be sent quickly and securely via disbursements,domestic peer to peer (P2P) payments and cross-border P2P payments.

Varun Sakhuja, Head of Merchant Development, South Asia, Mastercard highlighted how Mastercard was bringing innovation to retail payments and shared insights on its strategic merchant partnerships.Gaurav Batra, Division Lead, South Asia, Mastercard Advisors,introduced Mastercard Advisorsto the audience. It is the professional services arm of Mastercard thatprovides near real-time transaction data and proprietary analysis, data-driven consulting, and marketing services solutions to help clients optimize, streamlineand grow their businesses.

GautamPande, Director of Market Product Management, Mastercard spoke about authentication and identity solutions and Krishnadas Mohandas, Director of Product Management, Mastercard, shed light on Mastercard Digital Solutions. Shubhrendu Koche, Vice President, Business Development, Mastercard apprised the audience onhow Mastercard Smart Cities is making cities smarter, more sustainable and more inclusive though data driven insights, advanced technologies and its global network.

Participants appreciated the valuable insights shared by the team from Mastercard.