KUWAIT: In a move to further consolidate its presence across key GCC markets and renew the company's focus on customer engagement, Mastercard, a leading technology company in the global payments industry, has announced the appointment of Pankaj Kathuria to the role of Area Business Head, Northern Gulf.

Pankaj will join Mastercard's Middle East and North Africa Management Committee and will be responsible for leading and driving the company's full scale of operations in Qatar, Kuwait and Bahrain markets that will now come under the fold of Mastercard's newly formed Northern Gulf Cluster.

As part of his new role, Pankaj's mandate will include driving business growth and enhancing Mastercard's focus on building customer relations and strategic alliances with new and existing partners.  "The key changes in the organizational structure across our operations in the Middle East and Africa are a reflection of our rapid growth in this region and have been rolled out to help us consolidate our position as a customer-centric company and facilitate our efforts to expand operations and investments in all the key markets. As we look ahead to another successful year, our team remains committed to Mastercard's long-term business strategy and growth plans in this important geography," said Khalid Elgibali, Division President, MENA, Mastercard.

Pankaj joined Mastercard in 2012 and as part of his previous role, oversaw the company's sales operations in Qatar, Kuwait and Oman. In this capacity, he was responsible for maintaining existing customer base, developing new relationships with financial institutions and helping them achieve their business objectives through leveraging Mastercard's chain of innovative products and solutions.