The hub will also nurture a talent pipeline across a range of capabilities focusing on data science, product development and payments consulting.

Mastercard’s D&S experts globally work with nearly 4,000 clients in over 120 countries, drawing on Mastercard’s extensive expertise, data, and technology to offer solutions that cover everything from hyper-personalized loyalty programs, to product prototyping, to end-to-end marketing solutions that span the customer journey. Mastercard D&S Hubs are knowledge centers dedicated to this arm of the business and are located around the world; the new hub in Kuala Lumpur will build on the success of other hubs in Asia and globally.

The hub in Kuala Lumpur will support the organization in the provision of solutions to partners in the areas of cybersecurity, credit risk, and data analytics to help local clients and those across the region to scale and enable their businesses’ potential.

“Malaysia is committed to becoming a leader in shaping digitalization across APAC,” said Fahmi Fadzil, Minister of Communications and Digital, Malaysia. “The launch of Mastercard’s Data & Services Hub in Kuala Lumpur is a very good opportunity for us to become a more integral part of the region’s digital landscape, while helping to strengthen our local talent pool in this increasingly important part of the digital economy. We look forward to building on our relationship with Mastercard to help create more mutually beneficial opportunities in the future.”

The launch reflects Mastercard’s commitment to bring global expertise and innovation to the APAC region as well as nurture homegrown talent to thrive in the digital economy. The new hub will become part of a growing global team that includes thousands of data scientists, engineers and consultants, and will support businesses and governments in Malaysia and APAC to make more data-driven decisions and optimize performance and profitability.

“Mastercard is passionate about offering next-generation services and value to customers - from retail and commerce, financial and non-financial institutions to governments - empowering them to solve business problems from end-to-end,” said Ari Sarker, President, Asia Pacific, Mastercard. “APAC is a powerhouse of economic growth, and we’re seeing many of the emerging markets across the region leapfrog some of the more conventional steps towards digitalization. This kind of rapid change demands dedicated expertise—the type of which will be offered by Mastercard’s newest Data & Services Hub in Kuala Lumpur, which will support the organization in servicing clients from Southeast Asia to China, Japan, Australia and New Zealand.”

The launch of the D&S Hub comes following the announcement in March of a partnership between Mastercard and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) to build a Cyber Innovation Hub. Leveraging Mastercard’s cybersecurity expertise alongside UTM’s education infrastructure, the new facility will offer skills training and courses on cybersecurity related fields to students and mid-career professionals, aiming to build a cyber-ready workforce and strengthen the country’s digital resilience.