Mastercard’s new EEMEA chief takes over as the UAE and wider Middle East become key markets for fintech, digital assets and payments.
Mastercard has entrusted Yasemin Bedir to lead its 81-country Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) business.
Bedir will become President of Mastercard’s EEMEA region on 1 September, succeeding Dimitrios Dosis, who has moved into the newly created role of Chief Commercial Payments Officer.
As part of her new position, Bedir will oversee Mastercard’s strategy and operations across the region, including its relationships with financial institutions, fintechs, retailers, governments and businesses.
The role comes at a time when the EEMEA payments market is changing, particularly in the Middle East, where markets such as the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have attracted a growing number of international fintechs.
Revolut and Checkout.com are two of the latest companies to acquire licences in the UAE as the country looks to establish itself as a global fintech hub.
“This is a vast and complex region that demands creative thinking, proven results and strong relationships. Yasemin has delivered that throughout her career,” said Sachin Mehra, Chief Business Officer at Mastercard.
“Working with our customers and partners across the EEMEA region, we have a true opportunity to shape and redefine how people and businesses move money, exchange value and enable commerce for years to come.”
Bedir has been with Mastercard since 2007 and has held several senior roles across the company. Most recently, she spent four years as Division President for Eastern Europe, where she led the business through a challenging geopolitical and regulatory environment.
The role included navigating the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which altered payments risk, sanctions exposure, cross-border flows and operations across the region. She will likely face similar pressures amid the ongoing Iran–US conflict.
According to a company announcement, she previously served as General Manager for Mastercard’s Turkey and Azerbaijan operations before moving to North America, where she spent nearly five years spearheading relationships with community institutions and processors.
Inspired by the work of Dosis
Bedir will take over from Dosis, who led the EEMEA business for the past five years. He will now lead Mastercard’s Commercial and New Payment Flows, covering business payments and new ways of moving money.
During his time leading EEMEA, Mastercard expanded the region to 81 countries while building relationships with fintechs, banks, governments and other payment providers.
Reflecting on the move in a personal LinkedIn post, Dosis said EEMEA had been “defined by resilience, ambition, and entrepreneurship” as the region navigated a period of significant change.
He also highlighted the opportunity to “unlock growth” across some of the world’s most dynamic markets, describing the region’s teams as having shown “true resilience” during difficult periods.
Dosis will now take those experiences into Mastercard’s commercial payments business, where he said he is particularly interested in the “white spaces” where there is still room to create and unlock growth.
Bedir said she wants to build on the work completed under Dosis, adding that she has been inspired by the team.
“Their resilience, innovative spirit and relentless dedication to meet and exceed customer needs is what powers our impact every day,” said Bedir. “Together, we will build on the strong foundation the regional team has created under Dimi’s leadership over the past five years.”
All eyes on the UAE
The UAE could be one of the more important markets in Bedir’s new brief, with the country attracting fintechs and digital asset companies which want to establish a presence in the region.
Revolut is one of the latest examples, with the digital bank receiving in-principle approval for a virtual asset service provider licence in Dubai in July, following approvals from the Central Bank of the UAE for stored value facilities and retail payment services.
Coinbase has also chosen the UAE as a base for its international tokenisation ambitions, naming Abu Dhabi its international tokenisation hub earlier this month after receiving permission from the Abu Dhabi Global Market.
Brett Tejpaul, Co-CEO of Coinbase Institutional, highlighted the UAE’s regulatory approach as a reason for the decision.
“ADGM issued one of the world’s first regulatory frameworks for virtual assets in 2018,” he said. “That reflected a genuine institutional commitment to innovation-forward regulation, executed with the rigour that global financial markets require.”
Mastercard has also been making moves in the region, with the company recently partnering with Al Etihad Payments to launch the first Jaywan-Mastercard co-badged credit card in the UAE and working with fintech Botim on an all-in-one payment card.
It has also advanced six AI startups through its Mastercard Lighthouse UAE programme and launched a finance solution with Dubai Founders HQ and Pemo, aiming to help startups and SMEs manage spending and cash flow.
