Ep 54: Innovation, Inclusion & Intelligence:
Dimitrios Dosis of Mastercard on the future of money
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What happens when one of the world’s most dynamic payments corridors becomes a live laboratory for the future of money? In this episode of Money Majlis, host Suvo Sarkar sits down with Dr. Dimitrios Dosis, President for Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa at Mastercard, to explore how technology, AI and cybersecurity are rewriting the rules of how we pay, get paid and stay protected across more than 80 markets. In this richly layered conversation, he makes the case for why this region is not just catching up with the rest of the world - it is outpacing it.
From Riyadh’s Vision 2030 to the UAE’s ambition to go largely cashless within the decade, Dimi explains why intent from policymakers, combined with strong spending power and youthful, curious consumers, is turning this region into a powerful testbed for real-time and digital payments. He shares how contactless payments, digital wallets and interoperable national schemes are moving from novelty to everyday habit, while mobile money in Africa continues to leapfrog traditional models and inspire new thinking on financial inclusion.
The conversation dives into Mastercard’s multi-rail strategy, spanning cards, account-to-account, real-time and even blockchain-enabled payments, and what that really means for banks, fintechs, merchants and SMEs in 2026. Dimi breaks down the payment trends he believes will hit critical mass this year - from AI-enabled payments and embedded finance to smarter loyalty and tokenisation - and offers practical guidance on how regional players can ride the wave rather than chase it.
Dimi dives deep into Mastercard's Agent Pay - the technology that allows an AI agent to complete an entire e-commerce checkout on your behalf, with your pre-given consent encoded in a Mastercard token. He explains why this shift from automation to delegation is not just a convenience feature but a structural reimagining of how commerce works, one that puts the consumer back in control through what he describes as the coming era of reverse auctions. He also reflects on the next generation of loyalty, from ultra-premium experiences like The Mastercard Collection and cards such as Ultima, to the promise of “segment-of-one” recognition powered by real-time data and AI.
Dimi speaks candidly about leadership - the value of authenticity, of owning decisions as if the money were your own, and of pairing data with instinct. And on a personal level, he shares what truly keeps him grounded across 80 markets: a Fender Stratocaster in his living room, and a yoga mat that changed his life.
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Produced by : Poddster
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