Pooja Vaya

Business Development Professional with 13 years of experience in the Payments Industry and Portfolio Management. Demonstrated expertise in financial services, sales, and strategic planning, supported by a Bachelor's degree in English Literature and relevant industry certifications. Proven success in product development, client relationship management, and marketing strategy execution. Focused on achieving results and promoting social impact through financial inclusion initiatives.

• October 2018 - Payments Everywhere Professional Certification, Visa Payments College, Visa University
• July 2017 - Visa Financial Business Acumen, Visa Inc., Visa University
• March 2014 - Miller Heiman Sales Training – Large Account Management Process & Strategic Selling, Visa Inc., Visa University
• February 2014 - Miller Heiman Sales Training – Conceptual Selling, Visa Inc., Visa University
• February 2013 - Visa Financial Business Acumen for Sales, Visa Inc., Visa University
• May 2012 - Navigating Visa’s Business, Visa Inc., Visa University
• February 2004 - Certificate in Graphic Designing and Animation Software, Xplora Design School, Jamnagar, India
• October 2003 - Certificate in Graphic Designing Application, Graffins College, Nairobi, Kenya

• A strong passion for social impact, volunteering, and financial inclusion describes who I am and what I want to achieve in life, I was a volunteer teacher for underprivileged children from slum areas in Jamnagar during school holidays, in university, I have organized and participated actively in various fundraising events like the Kargil movement, I have actively organized many community events, small and big, for children and adults
• I have actively participated in organizing various functions for the Diplomatic Spouses’ Association and Asian Food Bazaar programs while at the High Commission of India
• I am an active volunteer of the Chinmaya Mission, assisting in organizing annual events since 2002 to date, and leading the Kenya chapter of the Chinmaya Mission (CM) as a chairperson
• I teach Sanskrit to children and adults from around the world on a voluntary basis during weekends to promote the ancient language in modern times.
• As a student of the English Literature program at the university, I got an opportunity to have my poems and short stories published in various local magazines, newspapers, and the university annual magazine

• Awarded the ‘Employee of the Year Award’ for the Kenya office in 2015 and was nominated for the ‘Employee of the Year’ at the CEMEA level in the same year at Visa
• I have been recognized as a go-to person in the office and have received a Life Saver's award for going beyond my duties at Visa
• I was one of the five winners of Visa Volunteer Award program now known as Dollars for Doers for Q3 FY15, Q3 FY17, Q4 FY19, Q1 FY20 and won a grant of $1000 four times in eight years under this program in CEMEA region out of 10,000 employees at Visa
• Community Ambassador Award 2016 – Visa Sub Saharan Africa in November 2016 at Visa
• Playbook / Salesforce Champion Award – for driving Playbook/Salesforce (CRM tool) engagement in 2017 at Visa

• Self-motivated, highly articulate, attentive to detail, goal-driven professional, experienced in building and managing portfolios.
• Ability to deliver superior, personalized client service, cultivate strong business relationships and resolve issues in a way that propels innovation and growth.
• Team player with positive attitude to make things happen, energetic, competitive achiever who can inspire and motivate team members, successfully manage multiple priorities, and perform under pressure in a fast-paced, rapidly changing environment.
• A skilled communicator, fluent in English, who interacts at all levels, establishes strong professional relationships. Fluent in other languages like Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit and working knowledge in Kiswahili
• Motivated achiever who exceeds goals, earning high customer satisfaction, creative problem-solver with proven aptitude to analyze and translate complex customer requirements and business problems and implement innovative custom solutions.
• Leadership skills attained through positions of responsibility held, not apprehensive in taking new responsibilities, a fast learner.

• Achieved 200% growth in 3 years in the market through activities like upliftment in active rate, introduction of new channels, upskilling clients with necessary training, and improving the authorization rates
• Took two additional countries, Mozambique and Angola, for eight months on a voluntary basis and looked after 63 financial institutions and 15 or more fintech and processing partners
• Stepped up for 1.5years ending Oct 2021 to take an additional 28 clients & 2 countries (Zimbabwe & Namibia) and successfully managed a large portfolio of 55 clients in total
• Took over an additional country, Mozambique, with 14 clients for a 6-month assignment, thrice, in addition to my existing clients
• Effectively managed multiple regional clients with group complexities, and have grown them by 35% annually
• Implemented the first multicurrency program in Botswana
• Implemented the first interoperable mobile program in Malawi & Botswana

• Atul, Borkhataria, Managing Director, atul.borkhataria@fiduciacapital.com, +971 551 075888, Fiducia Capital, Dubai, UAE
• Salome, Makau, Snr. Business Leader, smakau@visa.com, +254 708 516543, Visa CEMEA, Nairobi, Kenya
• Sanjeev, Debipersad, CEO, sanjeev@shivamacap.com, +254 795 528378, Shivam Capital, Nairobi, Kenya