Payments Infrastructure · Dubai, UAE
Neeraj "Nick" Vora
Payments Infrastructure Executive — Sovereign & Scheme Partnerships Across 80+ Growth Markets
The executive organizations call when a market needs to be created, not merely entered.
$1Bn+
Partnership pipeline architected
×3
Companies founded & exited
80+
Markets under mandate
30 yrs
In payments infrastructure
§01 Profile
A career defined not by roles held but by things built that didn't exist before — payment markets opened with regulators, sovereign-scale partnerships with no precedent, three companies founded and exited, a $200M consulting practice run before age 30. Currently leading Mastercard's most complex ecosystem partnerships across Eastern Europe, the Middle East & Africa.
§02 Career-Defining Work
2024
—Now
—Now
Architecting sovereign-scale partnerships with no playbook
Founded Mastercard's Strategic Ventures function for EEMEA — ecosystem-level deals requiring government engagement, regulatory navigation, and multi-year capital commitment. $1Bn+ pipeline architected over ten years.
Dot-com
era
era
Ran a $200M, 250-consultant business before age 30
Managing Executive & VP, National CRM Practice Leader at marchFIRST — full P&L autonomy, ~250 consultants, ~$200M annual revenue, through the most volatile market in technology history.
2006
—2011
—2011
Founded, scaled, and exited a payments consultancy
Built VCG Consulting to $4M annual revenue in three years; exited on a revenue multiple. One of three ventures founded and exited.
2004
—2018
—2018
Opened payment markets that didn't exist — with regulators, not around them
Convinced Pakistan's regulators to open debit for digital commerce. Scaled Mastercard's global prepaid processing business from $10M to $150M+ outside the US in two years.
2018
—2024
—2024
Regional Crisis Commander across 80+ markets
Led Mastercard's regional response through COVID-19, the Ukraine–Russia conflict, the Israel–Palestine crisis, and multiple data-breach incidents — coordinated command across the full EEMEA mandate.
§03 Speaking & Advisory Topics
01
The Sovereignty Stack
Where national rails, domestic schemes, and global networks meet — and why the connection between them is the decade's real story.
02
Market Creation
How to open a payments market that doesn't exist yet — regulators as partners, not gatekeepers.
03
Crisis Command
Leading operations across 80+ markets through simultaneous, compounding crises.
§04 Issued Patent
US-20170154332-A1
Payment Device Control
Real-time selective authorization on open-loop payments products.
§05 Get in Touch
Email
LinkedIn