Visa Inc. has appointed Tareq Muhmood as the Regional President for Central and Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa, as the global payments company seeks to consolidate its presence across 86 dynamic markets in the fast-growing region.

The company announced the appointment on Tuesday in a statement, noting that Muhmood will be responsible for leading operations across more than 1,800 clients from 23 local offices, spanning a region marked by rapid digital transformation and increasing demand for innovative payment solutions.

Muhmood, who brings over three decades of banking and payments expertise, takes over from Mr Andrew Torre, who was recently named President of Visa’s Value-Added Services division, a $9 bn global business experiencing annualised revenue growth of 20 per cent since 2021.

The newly appointed regional chief was previously Head of Value-Added Services for Visa Europe, based in London. He first joined Visa in 2019 as Group Country Manager for Southeast Asia.

Prior to that, he held senior roles with Ahli United Bank, ANZ and HSBC and has worked across 13 countries throughout his career.

Visa said Muhmood will be based in Dubai and will report directly to Visa’s Group President, Global Markets, Oliver Jenkyn.

In his remarks, Jenkyn described Muhmood as a seasoned leader whose experience in both financial services and technology makes him well-suited to lead Visa’s fastest-growing region.

“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 said.

He continued, “During the course of his career, Tareq has worked in 13 countries and brings a unique global perspective, world-class leadership and a proven track record of partnering with Visa’s largest clients across diverse, complex and rapidly accelerating markets.”

Commenting on his appointment, Muhmood said he looked forward to building on the momentum Visa has achieved in the region and advancing the adoption of digital payments across more consumers, businesses and governments.

He said, “It is a great honour to lead the CEMEA region and to continue the tremendous progress that has been made in transforming the future of payments, commerce and money movement across so many dynamic markets.

“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.”

Visa’s CEMEA region includes some of the world’s most promising markets in terms of financial inclusion, fintech innovation and digital infrastructure. The appointment of Muhmood signals the company’s continued commitment to strengthening its footprint and scaling its impact in these areas.