Dr. Saeeda Jaffar appointed as Senior Vice President to lead Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Region by Visa

Business

Dr. Saeeda Jaffar appointed as Senior Vice President to lead Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Region by Visa

Visa (NYSE:V) today declared the appointment of Dr. Saeeda Jaffar as Group Country Manager, and Senior Vice President, for its operations across the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Dr Jaffar will join the global digital payments leader to oversee its presence in six countries and will be based in Dubai.

Jaffar starts her journey at Visa with deep financial services and payments expertise. She has spent the past five years serving as Managing Director for the Middle East at Alvarez & Marsal, while holding leadership positions in the Middle East for both Bain & Company and McKinsey & Company, working with private and public sector clients previously. In her new role, Jaffar will report directly to Andrew Torre, Regional President for the Central Europe, Middle East & Africa (CEMEA) and will be part of the CEMEA Leadership Team.

The past year has brought tremendous change to commerce in the Middle East with consumers and merchants shifting to digital with greater speed and urgency. As we continue the path towards recovery, Visas mission to help individuals, businesses and economies to thrive is more important than ever. With digitization high on the regional government agenda, I am looking forward to further helping establish Visa as a partner of choice, while unlocking growth opportunities for new and existing clients and partners across the GCC. said Dr Jaffar

Andrew Torre, Regional President, CEMEA, Visa At Visa, our commitment to the GCC region remains as firm as ever, and as we further strengthen our presence, I am delighted we will be joined by a leader of Saeedas expertise and experience. The GCC region is rooted in payments innovation, and with an expanding network of banks, fintechs and partners, Saeeda will play a critical role in further accelerating consumer payments, while advancing some of the new and exciting areas where there is demand for seamless, fast and secure money movement.

Dr Jaffar holds a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University, and a Masters of Science and a Doctorate in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which she obtained through the HH Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum EDAAD Scholarship.