Umasankar Nistala
Chief Information Officer, Payments at Fiserv
From India’s Odisha region to Chief Information Officer (CIO) of Payments at Fiserv, Umasankar Nistala’s life spent across the US and India has helped him form an illustrious career in the financial services industry.
With two master’s degrees behind him, one in computer science and the other in business administration for finance and international business, Nistala has forged a nearly three-decades-long association with the financial services industry.
Spending the formative years of his career in the US, Nistala joined JPMorgan in 2002. Although admitting he was open to joining any industry following education, Nistala enjoyed working for the company, and “ended up spending almost 16 years” with the company; six in the US and another 10 years in his native India.
Eventually leaving JPMorgan for BNP Paribas India Solutions in 2018, where he was CEO, Nistala once again found himself back in the US when joining Fiserv as CIO of Payments just 15 months ago.
He says: “When I decided to come back to the US, there was no better opportunity than joining Fiserv. It is one of the world’s largest fintechs.”
In his new role, Nistala leads a team of around 2,000 people globally to drive the technology agenda for payments businesses, covering debit and credit card payments, as well as bill and digital payments. Serving nearly 10,000 financial institutions and six million merchants globally, Nistala joins the company at an exciting time.
Today, working in financial services is something Nistala takes great pride in, and he understands the responsibilities he shoulders.
“Knowing that the solutions we provide at Fiserv, and my role in it, can have a far-reaching impact on a consumer's ability to go about their day-to-day life without worrying about the complexities of underlying processing is a big responsibility. That responsibility, for me, is the best thing about working in the financial services industry.”
The chance to be at the forefront of innovation too, is something Nistala cherishes and is a key factor in his move to Fiserv in 2018.
“I love being at the forefront of innovation, and at Fiserv, innovation is the foundation of everything that we do. We aspire to move money and information in a way that moves the world. I am fully aligned with our joint purpose to deliver superior value for clients through leading technology, targeted innovation, and excellence in everything we do.
“We're bringing more vertical-specific integrated software and low cost, high tech point of sale solutions that include digital wallet and QR code capability for merchants. This is part of the next generation of digital banking solutions with extended real-time capabilities. And data is a tool for financial institutions and merchants to optimise business decisions. Not only do we harness the data, but we also optimise it in the best way for our clients.”
Best serving clients is something that has been at the heart of Nistala’s professional remit throughout his career, and this is no different at Fiserv.
He concludes: “Everything we do is for our clients. We will continue to innovate to connect our solutions for seamless interactions. When we think about payments, we cannot just think about transactions. Yes, the transaction needs to be seamless, but the experience is what truly needs to be seamless and effortless for the clients and customers, while also being secure.”
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