Sammy Mutua
Nairobi
Summary
Highly accomplished executive in the Fintech and digital payments industry, across multiple markets. With a proven track record of delivering business growth, deploying digital payment solutions, managing strategic partnerships, and achieving impressive revenue results. Experienced agile program leader with extensive expertise in product development and driving innovation across diverse industries. Focused on strategic execution and leveraging partnerships, through motivating leadership to ensures exceptional growth and meets the dynamic needs of the organization. With a reliable and hardworking nature, that will be an invaluable asset to any organization in need of a dynamic and results-driven leader.
Overview
18
18
years of professional experience
5
5
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Certifications
Work History
Executive Head, Payments
M-Pesa Africa
Nairobi
10.2021 - Current
- Drive vision and strategy across all M-Pesa markets to turbocharge digital payment acceptance and exponentially grow business payments
- Manage the deployment of digital payment solutions serving over +800K SMEs and +25M mSMEs across 7 countries
- SAFe Agile program lead for mixed team of vendors and FTEs in the Business Payment Agile Release Train
- Lead partnership discussions across the organization to grow the platform ecosystem with a focus on funding, integration, implementation, and execution of new payment capabilities
- Collaborate on fundraising efforts to drive the expansion of the M-Pesa platform to new markets across SSA
- Spearhead the creation of groundbreaking payment capabilities within the M-pesa ecosystem across diverse markets, driving ideation, product development, developing compelling business cases and GTM execution.
- Annual delivery of 1M new merchants, $18B in payments, and $300M annual revenue
Director, Products & Solutions SSA
Visa Inc
Nairobi
12.2017 - 11.2021
- Led the development of the product, strategy, tactics, and execution plans for consumer & commercial products with key stakeholders including issuers, strategic partners, and industry organizations for East African markets
- Collaborated in implementing Visa's strategic alliances and advanced Visa's innovation strategy by identifying, qualifying, quantifying and managing major strategic partnerships, commercial deals, joint programs, and initiatives
- Responsible for leveraging and supporting the cross-sell of the full complement of Visa capabilities to drive both innovation and value to Visa Client network
- Provided consultative product expertise, education, best practices, and implementation guidance for product features and functionality to internal and external partners
- Determined and evaluated business cases for proposed product developments that drove recommended prioritization
- Key member of the regional leadership team responsible for driving double-digit growth year on year.
Head of Products
NIC Bank Ltd
Nairobi
05.2017 - 11.2017
- Headed the consumer banking product development and innovation process including inception, implementation, and go-to-market execution
- Established the digital- first product strategy to deliver customer acquisition & retention goals and achieve P&L targets
- Ownership of the partnership and alliance strategy to enable continuous business opportunity maximization
- Product management for banking, payments, and digital services across the group with a product portfolio including commercial and consumer banking solutions, card solutions, mobile commerce, payroll services, mortgages
- Oversaw a portfolio of $300M assets and liability portfolio and delivered $25M in annual net revenue
Digital Banking Consultant
Sidian Bank Kenya Ltd
Nairobi
06.2016 - 04.2017
- Engineered the banks digital & alternative banking strategy to drive accelerated balance sheet growth
- Ownership of innovation strategy leveraging on fintech partnerships to facilitate bottom-line growth resulting in 8 new partnerships signed within 6 months
- Delivered deposit growth of 137% to USD 5M within 8 months
- Launched the bank's Visa Platinum and Classic debit cards to drive new revenue streams for the bank
- Deployed the first-ever mobile loan solution by a tier 3 bank
- Growth of agency banking outlets to 3000 within 6 months leveraging on newly formed partnerships
Head of Products
Chase Bank Kenya Ltd
01.2014 - 01.2016
- Headed the management and strategic development of the product portfolio to drive innovation, change management and improvements in communications, channel management, strategic execution, go-to-market execution, corporate governance, risk management
- Managed product portfolio of over $1B in liabilities and $600M in assets to successfully deliver annual profits of over $20M
- Pioneered the first mobile acquisition app that increased new to bank acquisition by over 3000% (400 to 20,000 opened accounts) in 1 year by leveraging on technology that increased the efficiency of the sales team.
- Launched of new revolutionary mobile banking app-Mfukoni. (Voted best mobile app in East Africa-Think business awards 2014.)
- Lowered the retail cost of funds from 12.6% to 7.06% within 18 months through digitization of essential fund raising initiatives including accepting deposits from digital channels and disbursing digital loans
- Gained strong leadership skills by managing projects from start to finish
Head Non
Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd
Nairobi
01.2011 - 12.2013
- Voice Segment and New Product Development Nairobi, Strategized and implemented a comprehensive mobile data and non-voice product strategy, resulting in significant business growth
- Led the successful formulation and execution of product marketing and go-to-market plans, driving increased market penetration
- Orchestrated the development and deployment of the Airtel Money mobile commerce platform, contributing to a remarkable revenue increase from below 10% to over 25% within 18 months
- Served as the country project manager for the 3G launch, resulting in a 400% boost in mobile internet revenue and a 350% increase in users in the first year
- Provided cross-functional leadership to teams in IT, Marketing, Finance, and Supply Chain, ensuring seamless service delivery and continuous improvement.
Head of Usage & Retention
Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd
Nairobi
10.2010 - 01.2011
- Developed and executed a customer usage and retention strategy, driving customer loyalty and minimizing churn
- Oversaw the end-to-end management of the prepaid and postpaid customer lifecycle, implementing data modeling, mining, targeting, pro ling, and segmentation techniques
- Successfully designed and managed win-back and churn management programs, resulting in a month-on- month churn rate of less than 5%.
Head of Deposits
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd
Nairobi
01.2010 - 09.2010
- Directed the planning, execution, marketing, and management of the bank's retail liability base and a $500Mn retail deposit portfolio
- Led the strategic management of the transactional banking platform, implementing innovative customer value propositions and marketing initiatives to drive sales and revenue growth.
Product Development Manager
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd
04.2008 - 09.2010
- Executed the development and successful implementation of innovative financial products and services to meet the evolving needs of customers to achieve $30M Deposit growth.
- Distinguished product issues and gathered information on customer experiences
- Maintained internal product knowledge database
Stock Broker
Commerce One Financial Ltd
New York
05.2005 - 06.2006
- Generated double digit returns by navigating global financial markets, providing strategic investment advice, and generating impressive returns for 50 clients.
- Worked on behalf of companies to buy and sell financial instruments
- Monitored market trends and developed strategies to capitalize on potential opportunities
Education
Master of Science - Financial and Business Economics
University of Essex
Colchester, United Kingdom 10.2006 - 09.2007
Bachelor of Arts - Economics
Michigan State University
East Lansing, United States 08.2001 - 05.2005
Skills
Organizational leadership
Certification
Bullet proof Manager December 2010
Timeline
Executive Head, Payments
M-Pesa Africa
10.2021 - Current
Director, Products & Solutions SSA
Visa Inc
12.2017 - 11.2021
Head of Products
NIC Bank Ltd
05.2017 - 11.2017
Digital Banking Consultant
Sidian Bank Kenya Ltd
06.2016 - 04.2017
Head of Products
Chase Bank Kenya Ltd
01.2014 - 01.2016
Head Non
Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd
01.2011 - 12.2013
Head of Usage & Retention
Airtel Networks Kenya Ltd
10.2010 - 01.2011
Head of Deposits
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd
01.2010 - 09.2010
Product Development Manager
Standard Chartered Bank Kenya Ltd
04.2008 - 09.2010
Master of Science - Financial and Business Economics
University of Essex
10.2006 - 09.2007
Stock Broker
Commerce One Financial Ltd
05.2005 - 06.2006
Bachelor of Arts - Economics
Michigan State University
08.2001 - 05.2005
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