B2B Converge: Asia-Pacific
The commercial card and B2B Payments event of the year
8-9 March 2021 | Virtual
An exclusive invitation from
Mastercard is excited to be a partner of B2B Converge: Asia-Pacific, taking place virtually, 8-9 March 2021.
The payments ecosystem in Asia was experiencing rapid innovation before the pandemic hit, now the pace of change has hit warp speed as companies, together with fintech and banking partners, accelerate automation and embed solutions to enable the digital transformation of payment processes.
Drivers for change are many, lockdown and remote teams has highlighted the need to eradicate manual interventions, whilst suppliers need good liquidity and short DPOs to enable trade to flow. And regulation increased competition, with the rise of neo banks, and fintechs offering solutions, and real time payments on the near horizon in the region.
Join us as we explore the dramatic changes brought about by the pandemic, and the market drivers boosting the development of new payment solutions and processes across the diverse economies and countries that are Asia.
We would like to invite you to the event and extend an exclusive complimentary invitation.
Bringing Conferences to Life Virtually
Our virtual platform brings the experience of a live event to life in the virtual world by powering learning with live and pre-recorded sessions, engagement with live polling, partner discovery within virtual booths, and meaningful networking with 1:1 video meetings and best-in-class scheduling capabilities.
With exclusive content created through an exciting virtual experience
We are committed to supporting our clients through valuable learning and networking opportunities specific to your needs. This year’s conference features the industry’s most pressing topics including:
- Asia’s Market Futures post pandemic
- Development of B2B ecosystems in Asia
- Regulation and risk: KYC, AML, fraud and data compliance
- Large corporates: moving the digital needle
- Digitisation and data: open banking, faster payments and digital wallets
- Fintech innovation in 2021
- Cross border payments evolution
- SME and supplier growth strategies
Featured sessions
This year’s conference features a commercial card workshop covering fundamentals, interactive topic roundtable sessions, and lively panel discussions.
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2:00pm -
2:45pmAsia’s market futures post-pandemic
Whilst the impact of the pandemic has been dramatic, Asia is predicted to return to strong growth in 2021. In this opening session we assess the economic fallout and the path to recovery. With the RCEP now signed creating the world’s largest free trade bloc, we assess how emerging financial, economic, demographic and technological trends in diverse markets, including China, Japan, India and SE Asia will shape the business and trade environment in 2021. Will Biden and Xi Jinping form a positive relationship? Underpinning trade, we also examine how AI, big data, robotics and future digital technologies will transform society, commerce and finance, in this diverse market.
Sandeep Malhotra, EVP Product & Innovation, Mastercard
Sandeep Malhotra Mastercard EVP Product & InnovationSandeep Malhotra is Executive Vice President of Products & Innovation, Asia Pacific for Mastercard. In this role, he is responsible for product development and management, including commercialization of payment solutions that create a sustainable competitive advantage for Mastercard and its customers across Asia Pacific. This includes consumer and commercial products across Debit, Credit, Prepaid, Commercial, Payments Gateway, Processing, Acceptance, New Payment Flows and Digital Platforms & Labs. Prior to his current role, Sandeep was instrumental in defining and executing Mastercard’s real-time account-based payments strategy. From being business lead for the acquisition Vocalink (UK-based ACH infrastructure provider), through to the creation of Pay-by-Account and Bill Pay products, he has championed new payment flows which aim to introduce choice for stakeholders. Sandeep has been with Mastercard for the past 22 years, and has held a wide variety of roles with increasing responsibility. He has a proven talent for bringing innovative technologies to market, which require persistence and persuasion, by applying broad set of knowledge and expertise gained from working in various areas including digital payments, mobile payments joint venture (with Smart Hub in Philippines), network products and software development & solutions engineering arms of O&T. As an avid inventor, he has contributed to many enhancements to Mastercard's core systems and network. Sandeep earned a Bachelor of Science from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Master of Science from University of Missouri-Rolla, Masters of Science from University of Missouri-St. Louis and a Master of Business Administration from Washington University in St. Louis.
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3:00pm -
3:45pmDevelopment of B2B ecosystems in Asia
The evolution of the B2B ecosystem in Asia is rapidly accelerating. National lockdowns cast a spotlight on inefficiencies in payment systems and the need to automate. Yet Asia is an engine of innovation, notwithstanding Alipay’s $30bn suspended IPO, the payments revolution continues. The proliferation of payment and credit solutions for business, using an ever expanding array of processes and protocols, across a dynamic and diverse region is as exciting as it is bewildering. The deep and rich markets of payment cards, virtual accounts, digital wallets, neo-banks, expense apps, mobile VCN, AP systems, electronic and wire transfers protocols, and remittance systems make for a kaleidoscope of opportunity. Global and local banks vie for B2B market share in an ever shifting competitive landscape, characterised both by consolidation and new entrants in the market. Critical to success in this market place is a collaborative approach where buyers and sellers come together to work on payment ecosystems that are economical and workable. In this session we map how the B2B payments solutions will play out in markets the year ahead and the likely winners in the post pandemic world.
Ajay Adiseshann, Founder & CEO, PayMate
Ajay Adiseshann PayMate Founder & CEOAjay is the founder and CEO of PayMate. Ajay has been at the helm since founding PayMate as a consumer-focused fintech before transitioning it to a leader in B2B payments in India. Before PayMate, Ajay had founded two internet start-ups and successfully exited one of them.
David Newington, Commercial Director, APAC, AirPlus International
David Newington AirPlus International Commercial Director, APACDavid Newington heads up a dynamic team of payment experts for AirPlus International in 9 Asian markets including China, Australia, Japan and India. He launched AirPlus in Australia in 2011 to provide local and multinational companies with high quality and secure, travel and procurement payment services. With a career spanning technology, corporate travel management and B2B payments over two continents David brings a wealth of experience to corporate customers looking to develop payment solutions for their organization.
Mostafa ‘Mo’ Sabet, Vice President, Product Management - Asia Pacific, Mastercard
Mostafa ‘Mo’ Sabet Mastercard Vice President, Product Management - Asia PacificMostafa 'Mo' Sabet is the Vice President of Commercial Products for Asia-Pacific. Mo oversees all Commercial Products in the region focusing on Large Market, SME and B2B solutions. He is also responsible for relationships with traditional and non-traditional players in the commercial payments ecosystem. Prior to this role, Mo worked on Mastercard’s New Payments Platform where he led the Consumer Applications platform team developing real-time payment (RTP) use cases. Mo joined Mastercard in 2011 as part of Mastercard Labs in the Innovation Management team and then moved onto Product Commercialization in digital products. Prior to Mastercard, Mo was a Mergers & Acquisitions Specialist for IBM. Mo holds a BSc from MIT and an MBA from the University of Notre Dame. He lives with his wife and two sons in Singapore.
Richard Hartung, MD, Transcarta
Richard Hartung Transcarta MDRichard has more than 20 years of experience in the payments and consumer financial services industry, primarily in the Asia Pacific region. Following work in retail banking in California and a short stint in government, Richard was part of the team that started up retail banking for Citibank in Japan. After moving to Singapore, Richard joined MasterCard and headed up Operations & Systems for the Asia Pacific region. He then moved to Keppel TatLee Bank, launched a new credit card program that became profitable in just over 1 year, and then managed the integration of Keppelcard into OCBC Bank as the Card Center Manager at OCBC. Richard set up Transcarta in May 2002 and focuses on assisting financial services companies with strategy, merchant acquiring, enhancement payments training, operations process improvement market research and other business practices. He is also a freelance writer for Challenge, The Asian Banker and other media. He is proficient in Japanese. Richard has a BA from Pomona College and an MBA from Stanford University. He is active in community organizations, including service on the boards of the Metropolitan YMCA and the Jane Goodall Institute Singapore and Global.
Featured sessions
This year’s conference features a commercial card workshop covering fundamentals, interactive topic roundtable sessions, and lively panel discussions.
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5:00pm -
5:45pmSME and supplier growth strategies
Asia is made up of a vast and diverse network of SMEs trading in local currency markets, and in regional and global supply chains. The pandemic and ensuing lockdowns created liquidity issues and demand shocks that hit this sector hard. Supplier enablement and the take-up of B2B payment solutions across supply chains and networks is a core and critical element of providers products and ultimately their market success. In this session we look at how the SME market is changing in different market sectors and regions in Asia, to identify the growth opportunities and the innovative products transforming how this segment does business in the region. In a market characterized by both entrepreneurial innovation and dynamism, but also by traditional and old economy businesses, how will B2B payment product developers encourage adoption of new digital B2B solutions in these diverse markets? Will Ali-pay (and its regional clones and equivalents) prove to be the killer apps, or is the picture more complex? What strategies are local banks deploying to develop digital payment alternatives for SME customers? Here SME sector experts and end users discuss how the year will play out.
Ankur Kansal, Head – Credit Cards Portfolio, RBL Bank
Ankur Kansal RBL Bank Head – Credit Cards PortfolioAnkur is a leading Payments domain professional with an experience of over 16+ years working with various banks in India. He is currently Senior Vice President at RBL bank, a fastest growing private Bank and has previously worked in leading Card payment organizations like State Bank, American Express. He has been leading member in setting up Credit Card business for the RBL Bank in 2014. His area of expertise is product and portfolio management for consumer and commercial.
Philip Lim, Executive Director Regional Head Commercial Solutions, Cards and Payments, Personal Financial Services, UOB
Philip Lim UOB Executive Director Regional Head Commercial Solutions, Cards and Payments, Personal Financial ServicesRuth Sy, Regional Head, SME, Asia Pacific, Mastercard
Ruth Sy Mastercard Regional Head, SME, Asia PacificRuth Sy is the Regional Head of SME Segment for Mastercard in Asia Pacific. In her role, she manages the Business card portfolio, and develops new products and partnerships to grow the adoption of digital payments and hasten digital transformation among small businesses. Her career experience spans consumer banking, business banking, investments, and most recently, payments. A significant part of her career was in management of lending products for consumers and micro & small businesses, where she championed financial inclusion across Asian markets. Ruth was born and raised in the Philippines, and now calls Singapore her home. Outside of work, she spends her time (and exhausts her patience) with her toddler, and whips up simple, one-pot dishes to share with her family.