Banga is banking on prepaid cards, e-commerce and mobile payments to diversify MasterCard's customer base.
While Vindi attended IIT, the elite engineering school, Banga graduated in economics from Delhi's prestigious St.
Overall, the shift from cash to electronic payments is ongoing, especially among the younger generation, notes Banga.
Banga is realistic: "It's only when jobs come back that Americans will start spending again, " he acknowledges.
They found that the Uttar Banga Express had made a perfect stop at the previous station, 7km away.
Banga's older brother Vindi, who lives in London, had a meteoric career as a multinational executive as well.
MasterCard said today its current president and chief operating officer, Ajay Banga, will become CEO on July 1.
Banga admits that the chance to be chief executive was a major draw.
Ajay Banga, the new CEO, has a global background and is very smart.
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Banga, whose taste in music ranges from Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi" to kirtans (devotional songs), comes well-prepared to his current job.
Banga's contagious energy has already made a difference, affirms Selander, who remains vice chairman of MasterCard until he retires in December.
When the signal at Gadadharpur Halt turned green, the Uttar Banga Express had moved on to its next scheduled stop of Sainthia.
On Monday MasterCard named Ajay Banga as its next chief executive.
According to the cabin man posted at the approach to Sainthia station, the Uttar Banga Express also did not respond to his warnings.
"General Banga was very demanding and constantly egging them on, " recalls college buddy Vinayak Chatterjee, chief executive of infrastructure services firm Feedback Ventures.
While Banga says that he's all for consumer protection, he argues that regulating transaction fees will eventually result in higher costs to consumers.
Service records of the Uttar Banga Express's driver suggest he was rated among the top 20 drivers in the Indian railway service, investigating officials said.
Banga's friends say that the brothers' upbringing in a Sikh family with an army background (their father is a retired lieutenant general) prepared them well.
Banga will become a member of the board of directors immediately.
In April MasterCard's board met in Singapore where it named Indian-born Ajay Banga, the company's chief operating officer and president, to succeed outgoing chief executive Robert Selander.
This combination of marketing and banking experience on a global platform made him the perfect candidate, says MasterCard's Selander, who hired Banga as his number two last August.
Prior to joining MasterCard in August 2009, Banga was at Citigroup for 13 years, most recently as chairman and chief executive officer of Citi's international global consumer group.
It was also unusual for the Uttar Banga Express to have picked up top speed within five minutes of leaving the previous station, with a scheduled stop ahead, said the officials.
"Consumers and businesses around the world continue to recognize the benefits of electronic payments and MasterCard remains at the heart of this evolution, " said MasterCard President and Chief Executive AjayBangaAjay Banga.
Then jump past the break for a quick intro, compliments of Deutsche Telekom CEO Rene Obermann and MasterCard CEO Ajay Banga (the two seemingly random gentlemen that you may have noticed above as well).
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Banga also commented on the international environment.
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