(18 January 2010 – Global) MasterCard has acquired Orange payments chief Mung Ki Woo to head up its mobile payments and commerce initiatives, according to NFC Times.Mr Woo, currently VP of electronic payments and transactions at Orange, will report directly to Ed McLaughlin, chief emerging payments officer at MasterCard in his new role.
MasterCard is following in the footsteps of rival Visa, which also recently poached a telco veteran – the GSMA’s Bill Gajda – to look after its increasingly valuable mobile operations.
Orange has been at the forefront of mobile NFC projects, recently committing to start issuing NFC SIM cards to existing subscribers from the second quarter.
Mr Woo has also been involved in mobile money projects in African countries such as the Ivory Coast.