Digital Transactions
Ajay Banga, chief executive of Mastercard Inc. for the past decade and the strategist who converted what had been mostly a consumer card network into a player in non-card and real-time payments, said he will step down Jan. 1 as CEO. He will then assume the role of executive chairman of the board, according to an early-morning announcement from the company. Richard Haythornthwaite, the current chairman, will retire.
Succeeding Banga as CEO will be chief product officer Michael Miebach, who has been with Mastercard for the past 10 years. In the meantime, Miebach will assume the president title from Banga on March 1. Miebach was president of the Middle East and Africa region for Mastercard for five years, and before joining the company he had filled executive roles at Barclays Bank and Citibank. For the time being, he will continue leading the product department.
