Juan Carlos Cardoso Riveroll

Senior Payments & Digital Products Leader  ·  Fintech  ·  Product  ·  Technology

Mexico City, Mexico  ·  Open to Remote: US · Mexico · Global

30+ Years Experience VP / Director Level 3 Startup Acquisitions Mastercard GeoNorth Top 100 Fintech Leaders LatAm

Professional Summary

Results-driven senior leader with 30+ years of experience across payments, digital products, fintech, and technology operations in the US, Mexico, and Latin America. Proven track record of launching and scaling innovative platforms — contributing to 3 successful startup acquisitions — while building and leading cross-functional teams at both high-growth startups and global corporations, including Mastercard. Uniquely positioned at the intersection of business strategy and technical execution, with deep expertise in payments architecture, product management, digital transformation, and P&L ownership. Recognized among the Top 100 Fintech Leaders in Latin America. Currently focused on Director or VP-level opportunities in Payments, Product, or Fintech where deep technical fluency and executive leadership experience intersect.

Career Highlights

  • Led Mastercard’s digital payments expansion across Mexico, Central America & Caribbean — driving Masterpass Wallet, MDES tokenization, and Apple Pay rollout across GeoNorth.
  • Architected compliance and fraud management platforms now serving 100+ Visa merchants and financial institutions across markets in Latin America & the US.
  • Multiple awards for Leadership, Innovation and Transformation — specialized in Payments, Fintech, and Digital platforms.

Core Competencies

Payments Strategy & Architecture Product Management & Roadmap Digital Operations & P&L Ownership Fintech & Financial Services Team Leadership & Mentoring API & Platform Integration Risk & Compliance Management Marketplace & E-commerce Business Development & Partnerships SaaS Platform Development Digital Transformation Go-to-Market Strategy KYC / AML Compliance AI Agent Design & Workflows Training & Coaching Startups & Growth-Stage Companies

Professional Experience

Head of Payments 12/2022 – 01/2024
Hola Cash (Acquired)
Mexico City
  • Co-designed and built a multi-acquirer, multi-channel payments aggregator combining best-in-class security with a flexible, scalable architecture from the ground up.
  • Implemented smart operational dashboards enabling data-driven decision making across strategy, risk, and operations leadership teams.
  • Led payments and operations through the company’s growth and fundraising phase, contributing directly to its successful acquisition.
Payments Senior Analyst 06/2020 – 11/2022
GMSectec
Mexico City
  • Architected the Global Acquirer Risk Standards (GARS) compliance platform for GMSectec, enabling 100+ Visa merchants across multiple markets to audit and maintain regulatory compliance at scale.
  • Built an Issuer Transaction Monitoring & Fraud Alert Management SaaS, providing financial institutions real-time fraud detection and response capabilities.
Payments IT Leader 05/2019 – 05/2020
Nacional Monte de Piedad
Mexico City
  • Directed payments technology initiatives and innovation programs for one of Mexico’s most recognized financial institutions.
  • Managed cross-functional teams to modernize payment systems and introduce digital channels aligned with institutional strategy.
IT Head for Digital Distribution 07/2018 – 05/2019
AXA Group
Mexico City
  • Directed multiple scrum teams and projects for digital transformation initiatives that helped migrate company operations through new and enhanced digital channels and services.
  • Partnered with business stakeholders to build e-commerce & marketplace insurance products.
Product Head & Acting CTO 01/2018 – 06/2018
MobileCard (Acquired)
Mexico City
  • Directed engineering team’s integration with payment processing gateways, enabling the company’s core product value proposition and go-to-market launch.
  • Owned technical product strategy — designing innovative payment flows and forging key technology partnerships that differentiated the platform in a competitive market.
  • Provided executive technology leadership as Acting CTO, bridging product vision with engineering execution through a successful acquisition outcome.
Payments & Innovation Lead 01/2017 – 12/2017
Coca-Cola
Mexico City
  • Led IoT integration initiatives connecting field operational data with analytics and automation workflows, improving visibility and efficiency across distribution and commerce operations.
  • Enabled a new mobile Point-of-Sale (m-POS) payment channel, expanding digital payment acceptance and modernizing the payment experience at the point of distribution.
Head of Emerging Payments (GeoNorth) 12/2015 – 01/2017
Mastercard
Mexico City  ·  MX · Central America · Caribbean
  • Led API adoption and digital payments integration strategy across startups and engineering teams in Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean, identifying and closing high-value integration opportunities.
  • Drove the regional launch of Masterpass Digital Wallet and MDES tokenization, directly enabling Apple Pay rollout and accelerating contactless payment adoption across GeoNorth.
  • Hosted the Masters of Code hackathon in partnership with AngelHack, activating the regional developer and startup ecosystem through the Mastercard StartPath acceleration program.
Country Manager 01/2013 – 11/2015
Taxibeat (Acquired)
Mexico City
  • Held full P&L ownership for Mexico market entry and growth of the Taxibeat ride-hailing platform, managing product localization, marketing, driver operations, and customer support.
  • Scaled from launch to 100,000+ monthly rides with 1,000+ active drivers within two years of market entry.
  • Automated payment collection and disbursement flows, improving platform efficiency and driver retention.
Head of Operations and Engineering 01/2010 – 12/2012
Mobile Financial (a Mastercard/Telefonica Venture)
Mexico City
  • Oversaw day-to-day technology operations and engineering team, aligning platform development with business and product priorities.
  • Led infrastructure and systems improvements to support mobile financial services delivery at scale.
  • Built and certified the first USSD/P2P mobile payments platform in Latin America, serving over 9 countries.
IT Leader — Working Capital & Fleet Services 01/2007 – 12/2009
GE Capital
Mexico City
  • Led technology delivery for fleet management and working capital financing products, coordinating between business units and engineering teams across Asia, Europe, and America.
  • Managed systems integrations and platform enhancements in a fast-paced, process-driven financial services environment.
  • Developed the public website and integrated B2B services for the portfolio’s full life-cycle, managing millions in assets.
E-business Deputy Director 01/2005 – 12/2006
HSBC
Mexico City
  • Served as deputy lead for the bank’s e-commerce division, overseeing digital channel strategy, platform operations, and vendor relationships.
  • Drove adoption of online banking and digital payment products across a broad retail customer base.
E-commerce Director 01/2002 – 12/2004
Aviacsa Airlines
Mexico City
  • Built and managed the airline’s e-commerce channel, one of the earliest digital booking platforms in the Mexican aviation market.
  • Owned the full digital sales funnel — from platform development to online payment processing and customer experience.

Skills

Payments
ISO 8583 EMV NFC / Contactless PCI-DSS Tokenization (MDES) Payment Gateways Multi-Acquirer Architecture Mastercard / Visa APIs GARS Compliance Fraud Prevention 3DS AVS MFA Open Banking Startups / Intrapreneur Card Issuance Co-Branding BIN Sponsorship E-commerce Fintech Regulatory Certification SPEI SPID ACH / TEF Banxico CNBV STP Clearing & Conciliation
Development & AI Automation
ColdFusion MSSQL REST APIs AWS Firebase Flutter JavaScript / jQuery LLM Integration MCP AI Agent Workflows Prompt Engineering Spec Driven Development
Product & Operations
Agile / Scrum DevOps L3 Support Figma Balsamiq Lucidchart / Visio Wireframing & Prototyping Product Discovery MVP Definition User Story Mapping Service Design Stakeholder Alignment JIRA Roadmap Planning PMP OKRs BI Dashboards CRM / CMS Platforms SEO Architecture UX / UI Design Six Sigma / Lean Design Thinking Human Centered Design

Education

Master’s Degree in Business Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Universidad de Barcelona (OBS)
2018
Specialization in Digital Platforms
MIT Online Education
2017
B.A. in Business Administration (Honor Mention)
Universidad de las Americas, Mexico
1998 – 2002
B.A. in Computer Science (ISC)
Instituto Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM-CCM)
1995 – 1998
GCSE & A Level Certification
Clifton College, Bristol UK
1989 – 1994

Recognition & Achievements

  • Top 100 Fintech Leaders in Latin America — Iberoamerica (2018)
  • Digital Giants Shaping Innovation in Payments in Mexico — Must Magazine (2016)
  • Best of Internet App Award — AMPCI / Expansión / Reforma (2015)
  • Co-author: Defeating The Unicorn — Available on Amazon
  • 5,000+ students enrolled in published Udemy courses

Languages

English
Fluent / Native
Spanish
Fluent / Native
French
Intermediate