Barbara Sessa

Barbara Sessa is the Senior Vice President – Head of Consumer Products Europe at Mastercard.
With extensive international experience in business development and ecosystem transformation within the payments sector, she currently oversees the development of innovative products that cater to the evolving consumer payment landscape in Europe.
She manages a team of product managers at the regional level and is responsible for the strategy and go to market of several products such as Debit/Credit, Digital First, Wallet and Wearables.
In her current role a key focus of Barbara’s work is to promote the digitization of the payment experience, collaborating with her teams to develop secure, convenient, and digitally adapted payment methods for consumers. She ensures that these solutions incorporate cutting-edge technologies to deliver optimal user experiences.
Barbara is also in charge of the ESG Products strategy and go to market for Europe.
Beyond her professional responsibilities, Barbara is deeply committed to advocating for gender equality. She leads the Women Leadership Network at Mastercard France and collaborates closely with several organizations to promote female representation in the tech sector and female entrepreneurship. Recently, Barbara was honored with the European Women Payments – Positive Troublemaker Award at the annual EWPN conference for her pioneering efforts in promoting diversity and inclusion within the payments industry, especially where women and minority groups have been underrepresented.
Additionally, Barbara serves as a mentor to several female employees in France and Italy, as well as female entrepreneurs, providing guidance in areas such as digital business transformation and marketing innovation.
Through these efforts, she aims to foster an inclusive environment where women can thrive professionally and contribute to the success of the ecosystem.