Mastercard has announced that its president and chief executive Ajay Banga will transition to the role of executive chairman on 1 January 2021, with chief product officer Michael Miebach to become chief executive from that date, and president from 1 March 2020.

As president of the company, Miebach will oversee the sales, marketing, products, services and technology organisations.

“As the company moves into this next phase of growth, we have a deep leadership bench - with Michael at the helm - to take us to the next level,” said Banga. “He has a proven track record of building products and running businesses globally.”

Over his career, Michael has held leadership positions in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and in the US across payments, data, banking services and technology. During the course of 10 years at Mastercard, he has been a key architect of the company’s multi-rail strategy - including leading the acquisition of Vocalink and the pending transaction with Nets - to address a broader set of payment flows.

Banga added: “Thanks to the efforts of the entire leadership team, we are well-positioned for future success as we continue to embrace emerging and new technologies, making every device a device of commerce – driven by disciplined organic and inorganic investments, we have enhanced our technology, data and analytics, and cyber security capabilities, while also building our position in real-time payments.”

Miebach commented: “I’ve dedicated the last decade of my career to payment innovation and will continue to evolve and execute Mastercard’s strategy.”

Mastercard’s current chairman Richard Haythornthwaite will retire from the board after more than a decade of service when Banga assumes the role of executive chairman.

Current board member Merit Janow was unanimously elected by the board to become lead independent director on 1 January 2021. She will continue to serve as chair of the nominating and corporate governance committee when Haythornthwaite retires.

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