Mastercard appoints Zakia Sultana to lead Bangladesh operations

Mastercard has announced the appointment of Zakia Sultana as Country Manager for Bangladesh, effective immediately.

The appointment comes at a pivotal moment as Bangladesh's payments landscape evolves from rapid digital adoption to greater interoperability across banks, mobile financial services and fintech platforms.

As the market becomes more connected, Mastercard said it is focused on strengthening partnerships and enabling seamless and secure digital payment experiences for consumers and businesses.

Zakia succeeds Syed Mohammad Kamal, who will retire from Mastercard later this year after an illustrious 13 years with the company.

Over the past decade, Kamal played a supporting role in expanding Mastercard's presence in Bangladesh and strengthening the foundations of its digital payments ecosystem.

Building on this progress, Zakia will focus on the next phase of Mastercard's market engagements.

Zakia has been working with Mastercard since 2015.

During her tenure, she has supported key financial inclusion initiatives and business development efforts that have expanded Mastercard's footprint and strengthened partnerships across the country.

In her new role, Zakia will lead Mastercard's engagements in Bangladesh, with a focus on scaling digital payment adoption, deepening partnerships with customers and ecosystem stakeholders, and advancing a more inclusive and connected payments landscape.

She will report to Sandun Hapugoda, Group Country Manager overseeing Bangladesh, Bhutan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka.

Gautam Aggarwal, Division President, South Asia, Mastercard, said, "Bangladesh is a strategically important market for Mastercard, with strong growth potential driven by rapid digitalisation and rising demand for innovative payment solutions. We are grateful to Syed Mohammad Kamal for his leadership over the past decade in building a strong foundation for our business in Bangladesh."

"Zakia's appointment reflects our commitment to empowering local leadership in high-potential markets. Her deep market expertise and strong ecosystem relationships position her well to support our growth and deepen partnerships across Bangladesh," he added.

Zakia Sultana, Country Manager, Bangladesh, Mastercard, said, "I am honoured to take on this responsibility at a time when Bangladesh is rapidly advancing its digital transformation journey. Together with our customers, partners and regulators, we will continue to deliver secure, inclusive and innovative payment solutions that unlock opportunities for individuals, businesses and communities across the country."

Zakia brings more than 26 years of experience across telecommunications, financial services and large-scale transformation programmes.

She has led major business and infrastructure initiatives, including the rollout of 3G and 4G networks and the scaling of high-growth operations, with a strong track record of building and accelerating platforms at scale.

Her cross-sector experience positions her well to drive deeper collaboration across Bangladesh's evolving payments ecosystem.

She began her career at Grameenphone in project and change management, followed by a decade at Airtel as Head of Operational Excellence, PMO and QA.

She later served as Director at Banglalink and held leadership and board roles across both Airtel and Banglalink.

She has also worked closely with leading financial institutions, including HSBC.