Mastercard Appoints Yasemin Bedir To Lead EEMEA

Mastercard has appointed Yasemin Bedir as President of its Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region, expanding her responsibilities across an 81-country market that includes some of the company’s fastest-growing economies.

Bedir will take up the UAE-based role on 1 September 2026 and will oversee Mastercard’s operations and regional strategy across EEMEA. She will also join the company’s Management Committee.

She succeeds Dimitrios Dosis, who was recently appointed Chief Commercial Payments Officer, where he will lead Mastercard’s Commercial and New Payment Flows business.

Bedir is a nearly 20-year Mastercard veteran and most recently served as Division President for Eastern Europe, a position she held for four years. During that period, she led the business through a complex geopolitical and regulatory environment across the region.

Her new mandate comes as Mastercard’s EEMEA footprint has expanded to 81 countries, bringing together a diverse set of markets spanning Europe, the Middle East and Africa. In the new role, Bedir will work with financial institutions, fintechs, businesses, governments and retailers across the region.

“Yasemin is a leader who finds the best in her teams to help them deliver the greatest impact for our customers and to fuel local economies,” said Sachin Mehra, Chief Business Officer at Mastercard. “This is a vast and complex region that demands creative thinking, proven results and strong relationships. Yasemin has delivered that throughout her career.”

Bedir joined Mastercard in 2007 and has held roles across several markets. She previously served as General Manager for Mastercard’s Turkey and Azerbaijan operations before moving to North America, where she spent nearly five years overseeing relationships with community institutions and payment processors.

Her career has also included roles at HSBC, Garanti Bank and Yapı Kredi in Turkey.

In her new position, Bedir will inherit a regional business operating amid significant changes in digital payments, financial inclusion and financial technology adoption. Markets across Africa and the Middle East in particular are seeing increased investment in digital payment infrastructure, while regulators and financial institutions are working to expand access to formal financial services.

Bedir said her immediate focus would be on building on the work carried out by the regional leadership team in recent years.

“I’ve been inspired by the teams here at Mastercard,” Bedir said. “Their resilience, innovative spirit and relentless dedication to meet and exceed customer needs is what powers our impact every day. Together, we will build on the strong foundation the regional team has created under Dimi’s leadership over the past five years.”

Beyond her corporate responsibilities, Bedir is among the founders of the Professional Women Network and has been involved in initiatives supporting the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises.

Her appointment comes at a time when Mastercard and other global payments companies are navigating rapid changes in how consumers and businesses make and receive payments, with digital wallets, account-to-account payments, fintech platforms and new payment technologies reshaping financial services across emerging markets.