Based in Singapore, Rakesh is responsible for driving PayPal’s large merchant portfolio growth across Southeast Asia. Operating in one of the most dynamic regions within Asia, he oversees a team that is focused on empowering customers in a range of industries to leverage PayPal’s full stack payments platform for cross-border expansion. With over 20 years of experience in the consumer and merchant payments industry, covering product development, sales, relationship management and business development, Rakesh has spoken on topics that include changing consumer expectations, the evolving retail landscape, and the impact of digital payments. In between corporate stints at Citibank, NETS and leading Southeast Asia payments provider 2C2P, Rakesh also co-founded and ran a regional marketing consultancy that served Visa, SingTel, MasterCard & United Overseas Bank. Rakesh graduated from Western Michigan University with a Bachelors in Business Administration.