Krugel joins as head of customer strategy and market activation at Fundamo, the South African m-payments outfit acquired by Visa for $110 million earlier this year.

In his new role Krugel will focus on the implementation of mobile money services across developing markets in Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The new man was previously senior director at the GSMA, the global association that represents the worldwide mobile industry, where he led the mobile money efforts in international remittances and making financial services available to the unbanked.

He has also worked at Standard Bank, Absa, Investec Private Bank, MasterCard Worldwide, and Mobile Money start up Cointel. In addition, he founded TroyTyla's thinkmobilemoney consultancy in 2006 which supported mobile money ventures in developing markets.

Talking about the new hire, Bill Gajda, global head, mobile product, Visa, and himself a former GSMA staffer, says: "His unique experience bringing together the complex worlds of the wireless and financial services industries ensures he will be a significant asset as Visa continues to roll-out its global strategy to commercialise mobile financial services around the globe."