MasterCard's Banga looks at growing its 'share of wallet'

His earlier stints at Nestle and PepsiCo were all about increasing these companies' share of "stomach," but now, for Ajay Banga, the India-origin chief of MasterCard, the priority is to grow the firm's share of "wallet".

"So if I think about my experience at Nestle or Pepsico, it was about growing the share of 'stomach' whereas at MasterCard, we are looking to grow our share of the 'wallet'," 50-year-old Banga, who took over as MasterCard's CEO on July 1, told PTI in an e mail interview.

Banga, who was earlier MasterCard's President and COO, began his career with Nestle in 1981 and later joined Pepsico. He worked with banking major Citigroup for 13 years and held various roles in the US, Europe and the Middle East, among others.

Emphasising that MasterCard has many strengths on its side, Banga described the company as a "boat in the sea with a tail wind coming our way."

"What we have to do is align our sails to that tail wind. At the end of the day, no matter where you are in the world, people want payment innovation that's going to make their life easier," he noted.
    
MasterCard, which processes over 22 billion transactions every year, had a profit of $1.5 billion on revenues of $5.1 billion in 2009.
    
Before joining MasterCard on August 31, 2009, Banga was Citi Asia-Pacific CEO, responsible for all of the company's business lines in the region, including institutional banking, wealth management and credit cards.
    
"... I have first-hand knowledge of the challenges and opportunities within the banking/finance world, and believe that gives me great perspective on the value-add MasterCard can provide," he added.
    
Banga, a Delhi University product, is the brother of high profile former Unileverl executive Manvinder Singh Banga.