Lanford will assume regional responsibility for innovation, product development, go-to-market strategy and commercialization of the MasterCard portfolio of prepaid products, reporting to Laura Kelly, Senior Vice President, Global Debit and Prepaid Product Solutions, MasterCard Worldwide.

Laura Kelly commented on the appointment: "Europe represents a significant opportunity for the MasterCard prepaid business. Our recent work with PSE Consulting confirmed that the spend opportunity in Europe is substantial - and still in its relative infancy - projected to total $120 billion by 2015. With his knowledge and experience, Matt is well positioned to capitalise on this opportunity and bring fresh insights and strategic leadership to the region."

Matthew Lanford said: "I am very excited to join the team in Europe and build on their great success. Prepaid remains an incredible growth opportunity for our issuing and merchant partners and I look forward to continuing the great momentum achieved."

Previously based in the US, Lanford successfully managed MasterCard's commercial prepaid strategy and suite of prepaid healthcare solutions, including the development and implementation of innovative initiatives such as real-time substantiation of healthcare purchases on MasterCard prepaid healthcare cards.

Prior to joining MasterCard, Lanford served as a director at Citigroup Corporate Investment Bank Global Transaction Services. He also managed new product development activities for Citishare, Citigroup's global ATM and PIN POS debit transaction processing business. With more than 15 years' experience in the payments industry, Lanford's new position takes him back to Europe where he spent three years serving in various management capacities in Budapest, Hungary, for Euronet Worldwide and ARYSYS, Inc., a software solutions provider of ATM, POS and card processing products.