Ajaypal Singh Banga

Ajaypal Singh Banga

Ajaypal Singh Banga is the current president and chief executive officer of MasterCard.

Introduction:

  • Banga was born into a Sikh family in Khadki outside Pune, Maharashtra in India.
  • His father was an army officer, retired lieutenant-general Harbhajan Singh Banga who is a decorated army general of Indian Army.
  • The family’s origin is from Jalandhar in Punjab.
  • He is also the younger brother of another well known CEO M S Banga.
  • MasterCard announced on April 12, 2010 that Ajay Banga, previously MasterCard’s president and chief operating officer, had been named by the Board of Directors to serve as the company’s president and chief executive officer, effective July 1, 2010.
  • The company also announced that Banga would become a member of MasterCard’s Board of Directors, effective immediately.
  • Ajay Banga, 50, succeeded Robert W. Selander, who had been MasterCard’s chief executive officer since March 1997

Education:

  • Banga grew up and schooled across India, successively in Secunderabad, Jalandhar, Delhi, Hyderabad and in Shimla, where he finished his schooling.
  • Banga went on to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Economics from St. Stephen’s College, Delhi University
  • An MBA degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

Industry Profile:

  • He began his business career with Nestlé in 1981.
  • He later joined PepsiCo and was involved in the launch of its international fast food franchises in India as the economy liberalized.
  • Prior to joining MasterCard, Banga spent 13 years at Citigroup from 1996 as part of the bank’s senior management in the United States and Europe, Middle East, Africa regions before becoming chairman and chief executive officer of Citi’s international global consumer group in 2005.
  • He was chief executive officer of Citi Asia Pacific, responsible for all of the company’s business lines in the region, including institutional banking, alternative investments, wealth management, consumer banking and credit cards.
  • He was also a member of Citi’s senior leadership and executive committees.
  • Chairman of the US-India Business Council, is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, The Financial Services Roundtable and The Economic Club of New York, and is a fellow of the Foreign Policy Association.
  • Banga was vice chairman of the board of trustees of the New York Hall of Science and a board member of the National Urban League.
  • He was formerly a business sponsor of Citi’s African heritage network – NYC.