We view India with excitement: Ajay Banga

Fifteen years ago, Ajay Banga, the then marketing director of Pepsico in India, was involved in a public spat with Madan Lal Khurana — the then head of Delhi’s Municipal government and a leader of the Bhartiya Janata Party — over a closure notice to a Kentucky Fried Kitchen outlet in Delhi.

From sparring with politicians in New Delhi, Banga, 50, now appointed president and chief operating officer of MasterCard Inc, has come a long way. He spent 13 long years at Citibank and resigned as the CEO for Asia-Pacific. Banga spearheaded a major reorganisation of Citigroup’s Asian operations in August 2008 that gave regional heads increased authority across the bank’s sprawling product lines.

He received about $10 million in compensation in 2008 from Citigroup, making him one of the company’s highest paid executives. MasterCard paid Banga a $4.2 million sign-on bonus and $4.9 million in restricted stock grants.

Banga joins the band of other Indian-origin MNC CEOs like Indra Nooyi of Pepsi and Vikram Pandit of Citi. However, unlike the other two, who studied at foreign universities, Banga’s studied at the Delhi University and Indian Institute of Management in Ahmedabad. He has an illustrious family background. His father Harbhajan Singh Banga was a decorated general in the Army. His brother is the high-profile Manvinder Singh ‘Vindi’ Banga, who resigned as president, Global Foods, Home & Personal Care at Uniliver.

Described as outgoing and gregarious, Banga is known for his extensive network of contacts, stretching from New York to New Delhi. He will be stepping into the shoes of Robert W Selander, who has been heading the company since March 1997.

At a news conference on Monday, Banga said he had spent his first months at MasterCard traveling the globe to meet clients, employees and regulators. “India is an important part of every company’s (strategy). We view India with excitement, energy and enthusiasm because it is one of the big markets with enormous opportunities.”

“I would focus on improving revenue growth and market share in the company's core businesses of credit, debit and prepaid cards and would emphasise innovation in areas like mobile payments, online commerce and diversifying the company's revenue stream across the globe,” he said.