Mastercard has appointed Beena Pothen as Division President for West Southeast Asia, putting her in charge of the payments giant’s business across Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Myanmar.
The appointment comes alongside a new two-division leadership structure for Southeast Asia, aimed at strengthening customer focus across markets with different economic profiles and levels of digital maturity.
Pothen previously served as Mastercard’s Country Manager for Malaysia and Brunei, where she worked on growing customer relationships and expanding connected ecosystems while collaborating with governments, financial institutions and industry stakeholders on digital transformation.
“Across Asia Pacific, AI-enabled commerce, digital wallets, tokenization and new payment experiences are reshaping commerce in real time,” said Richard Wormald, President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard.
“The region is home to some of the world’s most advanced digital economies, alongside some of its fastest-growing, making it one of the world’s most important proving grounds for the future of commerce. That creates enormous opportunity, but it also demands leadership that can think ahead, move decisively and help customers realize the full potential of these changes,” he added.
Pothen said she was energised to lead the diverse markets and build on existing partnerships and payment capabilities.
“I am energized to lead Mastercard across West Southeast Asia — a diverse and deeply sophisticated set of markets with strong payments foundations, ambitious customers and exceptional teams,” said Pothen.
Her appointment is part of a wider series of senior leadership changes across Mastercard’s Asia Pacific operations as the company seeks to strengthen customer support amid rapid changes in the payments sector.
