Vaanathi Mohanakrishnan

Ms. Vaanathi Mohanakrishnan – President – MEA – M2P Fintech
A hands-on and highly experienced banking and payments professional with over 18 years of extensive experience across the Middle East and Africa. Vaanathi has worked across verticals from product conceptualization to growth and P&L management. She has worked expansively with fintechs across the region and her pulse of the market combined with a deep understanding of regulations across the region allows the fintechs to greatly benefit in terms of how to take a product to market and make a business out of it. Her experience extends across the BFSI sector and financial inclusion to cross-border payments. She is committed to the cause of women's entrepreneurship and leadership particularly and evangelizes the cause of women's inclusion and diversity for long-term sustainability. She is also an acknowledged industry expert making her presence felt at multiple expert panels by presenting her views on the fintech ecosystem in the region and its growth. She has co-authored and contributed to multiple payment industry reports with leading consultants and was also the co-chair of SHIFT, the payments arm of the MENA fintech association and a key member of the MENA fintech association team and often mentors start-ups in using the power of technology to solve financial challenges.
Vaanathi set up the MENA region for M2P from scratch and has grown this franchise to a formidable player working with banks, fintechs, and other industries enabling business lines. She has also been able to activate and develop over 8 countries in the region in a span of 3.5 years since the launch in 2020. She is currently the business head for the MEA region at M2P Fintech, Asia’s largest API infrastructure company. In her past roles, she has worked with organizations such as Finablr, ICICI Bank, and Citibank, and has also set up and run her own enterprise in the UAE in the field of education and fine arts.