MAM
Mastercard appoints Octagon to handle UEFA promotion
LONDON: Octagon Marketing has announced that they have been appointed by Mastercard Europe to manage their European sales promotion activity for the UEFA Champions League 2003-’04.
This new role builds on Octagon’s existing consultancy work for Mastercard for their sponsorship of European football’s elite club tournament in addition to the FIFA World Cup and Euro 2004.
A company release quotes Mastercard Europe Sponsorship VP Patrick Siméons as saying, “Octagon Marketing presented an innovative and compelling promotion to drive card usage and acquisition with our European partner banks. Their experience in football and outstanding marketing support over the years will now help us deliver our biggest and most exciting UEFA Champions League sales promotion to date.”
The release informs that the promotion is being rolled out to member banks across Europe ready for implementation in early 2004. Octagon will continue to support and manage the promotion throughout the season including its climax around the UEFA Champions League Final 2004 in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
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.
