Panaino's appointment follows the recently announced restructuring of the Middle East and Africa (MEA) business to comprise three divisions including Middle East & North Africa (MENA), Sub Sahara Africa and South Africa - a change that enabled MasterCard to get closer to its customer banks, merchants and consumers in the markets. He takes over from Anna Jones, who has been appointed as Vice President of Emerging Payments for MasterCard Worldwide across the MEA region, based in South Africa.

Panaino will be based in Johannesburg where he will be responsible for the overall performance of MasterCard in South Africa. He will provide strategic direction for the overall business ensuring that MasterCard continues to provide simple and secure electronic payment solutions to customers and cardholders across South Africa.

Dries Zietsman continues in his role as Country Manager of MasterCard Worldwide: South Africa which he was appointed to in January 2012. He is responsible for the direct management of the South African customer-facing teams, including business development, customer and merchant relationship management, and driving MasterCard acceptance. He will be reporting directly to Panaino.

"We are thrilled to welcome Philip to MasterCard Worldwide, as we follow through with our commitment to invest expertise, resources and know-how in the South African market and the rest of the MEA region," said Michael Miebach, President, MEA, MasterCard Worldwide. "Philip's appointment will build on the existing momentum that MasterCard has created in the region's second largest market."

Panaino joins MasterCard from Smartec Technologies, a payments service and technology organisation that provides 24-hour payment, pre-payment and ATM solutions where he was chief operating officer. In this role, he led the development of acquisitions in new transaction flows and consumer payment capabilities including enhanced self-service, mobile payments and contactless payment solutions.

He spent the first 11 years of his career with Citigroup, where he was vice president for the Sub-Saharan Africa Business, and manager of Global Transaction Services across 11 African countries. He holds a Bachelor degree in Commerce, Banking and Financial Management from Milpark Business School.

"Philip's local knowledge and international experience are substantial assets for MasterCard's business in South Africa. He will undoubtedly bring a fresh perspective to the South African payments industry at the helm of MasterCard's local operations," Miebach concluded.