MasterCard Labs, led by Chief Innovation Officer, Garry Lyons, is MasterCard's global research & development arm that is dedicated to bringing innovative payment solutions to market with greater speed than ever before.

Based in Singapore, Neal will create and manage innovation programs spanning ideation through to commercialization, in support of the development of new, innovative payment solutions. These programs help to foster a more innovative culture inside MasterCard, and leverage the company's diverse employee base to drive innovation. Also, Neal will tap into external sources for additional ideas, and will be responsible for engaging with the innovation community across the AP/MEA region.

"Technology changes so quickly and we're all more connected than ever. So our job in Labs is to create new ways to experience life... new shopping opportunities with better experiences before, during and after the payment transaction," says Garry Lyons, Chief Innovation Officer for MasterCard. "Neal joins a global Labs team focused on developing cutting-edge innovative products to do just that—to make it more simple and convenient for consumers to pay for what matters to them."

As a technology company at the forefront of innovation and payments, this forms part of MasterCard's move to grow the Company's innovation capabilities in the AP/MEA region and at the same time, harness the region's enthusiasm and receptiveness to new technology to spearhead innovations.

Neal joins MasterCard from Microsoft, where he was the Financial Services Industry Director for the Asia region. As a senior leader on Microsoft's worldwide financial services team, he provided banking and financial services expertise to strategic partners and enterprise customers throughout Asia. Before joining the Asia regional team in 2010, Neal was the Banking Innovation Lead in the Microsoft Australia subsidiary.