Obopay Names Deepak Chandnani President

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., and MUMBAI, India, May 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Obopay, a leading mobile banking and payment provider, today announced the appointment of Deepak Chandnani as president of Obopay, Inc.  The appointment is effective immediately and is a newly created position for Obopay.

In this new role, Chandnani will lead global operations for Obopay across all markets and geographies and continue to report to Carol Realini, Obopay's founder and CEO.  Chandnani will be based out of Obopay's Corporate Office in Mumbai, India, while Realini will be based out of Obopay's Corporate Office in Redwood City, CA.  Having Obopay's two most senior executives based in different corporate headquarters reflects the true global nature of Obopay's business.  

Chandnani initially joined Obopay in November of 2008 with responsibility for operations in India, Africa and Asia.  Last year, he also assumed oversight for the company's global Sales, Marketing and Business Development activities.  This role provided him insight into the company's global operations, and an understanding of the expectations of Obopay's partners and customers.  Throughout his tenure at Obopay, Chandnani has successfully led the Obopay team in the development of new partnerships, and the launch and operation of services in new markets which now span three continents, North America, Asia and Africa.

"Chandnani's broad and diverse background compliments his general management experiences and makes him uniquely qualified for his new role.  I am pleased that Obopay has someone of his caliber in this leadership position," said Realini.  "As Chandnani assumes this new role, we are looking at a dynamic future as we process transactions on three continents, and continue to position ourselves to take advantage of the appetite of consumers for mobile money solutions.  Chandnani will play a key role in increasing operational excellence and I am glad that we have his rich experience to complement our growth objective."

Prior to joining Obopay, Chandnani was the CEO of Wire and Wireless in India and before that served as the Managing Director for NCR in India.  Earlier assignments included roles with Yahoo, where he established Yahoo's first office in India, and at Citibank, where he played key roles as Marketing Director for India and Business Head of the innovative Citibank Suvidha liability business in India, HLL, and included an entrepreneurial stint that provided Chandnani with key insights into the challenges and opportunities of small, emerging growth companies.

An Economics honors graduate from St Stephens College, Delhi, Chandnani holds a MBA from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad (IIM- A).

"Obopay is the global leader in the mobile payments space with a robust platform, strengthened by its focus on developing successful partnerships and on meeting consumer needs and expectations," said Chandnani.  "I look forward to meeting the exciting task of building on Obopay's market leadership through accelerated growth worldwide, working with an excellent team to take advantage of the huge opportunity in the mobile payments space and meeting the needs of our partners and customers."

About Obopay

Founded in 2005, Obopay, Inc (www.obopay.com) delivers an open, trusted, secure and interoperable mobile payments service by transforming any mobile phone into a convenient and easy way to send and receive money.  Obopay's broad based offering addresses the needs of consumers and businesses around the world by providing a ubiquitous service that delivers value, empowers lives and improves opportunity for merchants both in the physical and virtual worlds.  Obopay's innovative mobile money services make it easy for all mobile phone users to securely send and receive money, top-up their mobile, buy online, buy via mobile, pay bills and pay small businesses.  Obopay believes the power is in the network and has established global partnerships that include Nokia, MasterCard, Citi, AT&T, Verizon, Essar, Yes Bank in India, Blackberry and Societe Generale.  Global headquarters are in Redwood City, CA with operations in India.

SOURCE Obopay, Inc.