Visa has officially announced the appointment of Tareq Muhmood as its new Regional President for Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (CEMEA). In this significant role, Muhmood will be entrusted with the leadership of operations across an expansive region encompassing more than 86 innovative and rapidly growing markets. Visa's CEMEA operations currently support over 1,800 clients through its network of 23 local offices established across the region.

Bringing a wealth of experience, Muhmood is an industry veteran with more than 30 years of expertise in the banking and payments sectors. Before this new appointment, he held the position of head of Value-Added Services for Visa’s Europe region, where he was based in London. His journey with Visa began in 2019 when he joined as Group Country Manager for Southeast Asia, operating out of Singapore. Prior to his tenure at Visa, Muhmood held several senior leadership roles at prominent financial institutions, including Ahli United Bank, ANZ, and HSBC.

Effective immediately, Muhmood will be based in Dubai and will report directly to Oliver Jenkyn, the Group President, Global Markets, at Visa. He succeeds Andrew Torre, who has recently transitioned to lead Visa’s Value-Added Services business. This particular segment of Visa's operations has experienced substantial growth, evolving into a $9 billion global business and demonstrating an impressive annualized revenue growth of 20% since 2021.

Oliver Jenkyn expressed his enthusiasm for the appointment, stating, "We are delighted to appoint a leader with Tareq’s deep experience at the intersection of financial services, technology and high growth markets to lead Visa’s fastest growing region and continue our journey to advance the future of digital payments across CEMEA." Jenkyn further highlighted Muhmood's extensive background, noting that throughout his career, Tareq has worked in 13 countries, providing him with a unique global perspective, world-class leadership capabilities, and a proven track record of successful partnerships with Visa’s largest clients across diverse, complex, and rapidly accelerating markets.

Commenting on his new role, Tareq Muhmood conveyed his honor in leading the CEMEA region. He emphasized his commitment to continuing the significant progress already made in transforming the future of payments, commerce, and money movement across the dynamic markets within the region. Muhmood added, "Having spent more than a third of my career in the region, I am excited by the incredible opportunity to further expand digital payments amongst more consumers, merchants and economies. I look forward to working closely with our outstanding team to enable shared growth with clients and partners across the region."