Mastercard in India: diagnose the share decline and pitch a recovery plan

Mastercard is losing market share in India. As a product manager, build the strategy you would present to leadership to win that share back and grow in the Indian market. Explain how you would find out why share is slipping, which customers and partners you would focus on, what you would do first, and how leadership should track progress. ```hint Start with who a card network serves A card network rarely sells to consumers directly: it wins through issuing banks, merchants and the acquirers that serve them, cardholders, and the regulator's rules. Find which of these relationships the share is leaking from before choosing moves. ``` ### Clarifying Questions - How is share measured: cards in circulation, new cards issued, number of transactions, or payment value? Is the comparison with other card networks, or with all digital payments, including instant bank-to-bank transfers? - Which products are losing share: credit, debit, prepaid, commercial cards or cross-border spending? - What time horizon and level of investment should the plan assume? - Is influencing regulation part of the remit, or should rules be treated only as constraints? ### What a Strong Answer Covers - A diagnosis that separates losing ground to other card networks from cards losing ground to other payment methods, with hypotheses and the data to test them - An understanding of the players a network must win (issuers, acquirers, merchants, cardholders) and of India's domestic payment rails and regulation - A focus on segments where a global network has a genuine edge, with prioritized initiatives - A phased plan with metrics leadership can track and guardrails on incentive spend and compliance - Risks, including regulatory exposure and how competitors will respond ### Follow-up Questions - Leadership suggests cutting merchant fees to match payment methods that are free for merchants. How do you respond? - If you could fund only one initiative, which would it be and why? - How would you show the regulator that Mastercard's growth supports India's own payment goals?