MAM
BharatPe seals strategic, long term partnership with ICC
New Delhi: BharatPe on Monday announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with International Cricket Council (ICC).
The agreement will ensure BharatPe’s involvement and integration at all ICC events throughout the term, beginning with the final of the ICC World Test Championship between India and New Zealand in Southampton. As a prestigious partner of ICC, BharatPe will promote the association across broadcast and digital platforms, as well as execute in-venue brand activations at all the ICC events it said on Monday.
These include the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (India, 2021), ICC Men’s T20 World Cup (Australia, 2022), ICC Women’s World Cup (New Zealand, 2022), ICC U19 Cricket World Cup (West Indies, 2022), ICC Women’s T20 World Cup (South Africa, 2022), ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup (India, 2023) and ICC World Test Championship (2023).
The partnership will also enable BharatPe to roll out innovative campaigns to connect and engage with millions of cricket fans and shop owners across the country.
BharatPe’s co-founder and CEO, Ashneer Grover, said, “We believe that cricket is one of the biggest unifiers – that cuts across geographies and/or languages. I am confident that this association will enable us to build a stronger relationship with our existing merchants, as well as engage better with millions of new, small merchants across the length and breadth of India. It is a matter of immense pride for us that BharatPe, a truly Indian company that started its journey just 2.5 years ago, will be representing the nation on global platforms of ICC.”
According to the company, the partnership is an organic extension to its existing brand strategy centred around cricket. It has its own ‘Team BharatPe’ comprising of eleven Indian cricket stars as its brand ambassadors, namely, Rohit Sharma, Jasprit Bumrah, KL Rahul, Mohammed Shami, Ravindra Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Shreyas Iyer, Prithvi Shaw, Sanju Samson, Yuzvendra Chahal, and Shubhman Gill.
ICC, chief commercial officer, Anurag Dahiya, Chief Commercial Officer said, “Our women’s and men’s events provide leading brands an unparalleled, high-reach platform for conversations with very involved and passionate fans. Our commercial partners have greatly benefitted from working with us on our events and 2021-23 presents a unique opportunity with five senior level World Cups taking place, which will set the stage for reaching out to an unprecedented number of cricket fans.”
MUMBAI: In India’s fast-moving payments race, Visa has just swiped in a new leader. The company has named Suresh Sethi as its India country head, marking a key leadership shift as it sharpens its focus on digital payments growth in the market. Sethi steps into the role following his recent exit from Protean eGov Technologies, where he served as chief executive officer. He succeeds Sandeep Ghosh, who has moved on after more than four years at Visa to pursue an external opportunity.
The appointment comes at a time when Visa is doubling down on its expansion strategy across India and the wider region, deepening partnerships and accelerating adoption in an increasingly competitive digital payments ecosystem.
Sethi brings with him a broad, cross-market perspective shaped by decades of experience across corporate banking, retail financial services, mobile money and large-scale government technology initiatives. He began his career at Citigroup, where he spent 14 years working across India, Africa, South America and the United States, focusing on transaction banking services within the corporate bank.
His appointment signals a blend of institutional experience and market familiarity qualities that could prove critical as Visa navigates a landscape where fintech innovation, regulatory evolution and consumer adoption are all accelerating at once.
As digital payments in India continue to scale rapidly, the leadership change underscores a simple reality, in a market where every tap, scan and swipe counts, who leads the charge can matter just as much as the technology itself.
