RC

Rafael Calvo

BD Director · Visa  |  Fintech & Payments  |  New York, NY

25+ Years Experience Crypto & Stablecoins Digital Wallets BNPL Strategic Partnerships EU & US Markets
25+
Years Experience
12+
Years at Visa
5
Multi-Million $ Deals
25+
Markets (NA, EU, AU)
Career Timeline
Partnerships & BD Director
Visa — Strategic Enablers & Fintechs
Oct 2023 – Present 📍 New York, NY
  • Lead strategic partnerships with Block Inc. — Square, Cash App, and Afterpay in the U.S. market.
  • Drive merchant growth and product adoption across BNPL, embedded finance, and digital wallets.
  • Leverage deep payments expertise to unlock creative growth opportunities with fintech partners.
Digital Partnerships Sr. Manager
Visa — Digital Partners EU
Jan 2022 – Oct 2023 📍 Madrid & London
  • Managed strategic relationships with Google and Samsung across multiple EU markets.
  • Contributed to wallet launches in 6 new countries and onboarded the largest EU issuers (Barclays, Santander, Caixa).
  • Advanced digital authentication frameworks and regional wallet integrations.
Key Account Senior Sales Manager
Visa — Spanish Issuers (BBVA, Ibercaja, Abanca)
Nov 2015 – Dec 2021 📍 Madrid, Spain
  • BBVA: Negotiated and closed multi-million dollar 7Y portfolio recovery deal from Mastercard; Visa share grew 73% → >90% (+1.4M cards). Launched Visa Aqua (Spain's leading digital-first card).
Sr. Account Executive — Visa Spain
Visa — Issuers Portfolio
Oct 2015 – Nov 2017 📍 Madrid, Spain
  • Secured long-term exclusive agreements with Ibercaja (10Y) & Abanca (7Y), driving full portfolio migration to Visa (45% → >95% and 55% → >95%).
  • Closed Spain's first Visa processing deal with UniversalPay.
Product Sales Delivery Manager
Visa — Ecommerce Products (V.me / Click to Pay)
Sep 2013 – Oct 2015 📍 Madrid & London
  • Led sales delivery of V.me by Visa (predecessor of Click to Pay) in the Spanish market.
  • Secured 7 issuer wallet contracts and signed the #1 V.me merchant in Europe.
IT Director
ANECA — Public Sector Agency
Mar 2010 – Aug 2013 📍 Madrid, Spain
  • Led IT strategy, infrastructure modernization, and digital transformation for a public agency.
  • Managed cross-functional teams and external technology partners.
Senior Technical Support Engineer
Symantec Corporation
Dec 2006 – Mar 2010
  • Sr. Technical Support Engineer for Backup Exec product suite.
Windows Systems Engineer
HP — Carrefour Spain
Dec 2005 – Dec 2006
  • Systems administration and IT projects for Carrefour Spain.
Technical Support & Sales
Airis Computers
Dec 2002 – Dec 2005
  • IT support, Windows server administration, and pre-sales for SMBs.
Founder & CEO 🚀
PIC — Plataforma Interactiva de Comunicación
2000 – 2002 📍 Spain · Successful Exit
  • Co-founded one of Spain's first interactive media startups, pioneering SMS-based audience participation for live television.
  • Built and commercialised the product across major Spanish TV broadcasters, establishing a new interactive entertainment category.
  • Achieved a successful company exit through acquisition.
Product Manager
TYVE Technologies
1997 – 2002 📍 Spain
  • Led product management for interactive television and digital media solutions.
  • Developed early SMS-based interactivity products that became the foundation for PIC.
CliftonStrengths® Top 5 Gallup CliftonStrengths® 34 · Assessed May 2025
#1
Ideation
Strategic Thinking
Fascinated by ideas — finds connections between seemingly disparate phenomena and generates original solutions.
#2
Maximizer
Influencing
Focuses on strengths to stimulate excellence — transforms something strong into something superb.
#3
Strategic
Strategic Thinking
Creates alternative ways to proceed — quickly spots patterns and issues and crafts the best path forward.
#4
Positivity
Relationship Building
Brings contagious enthusiasm — energizes teams and sees the best in people and every situation.
#5
Developer
Relationship Building
Recognises and cultivates potential in others — spots the signs of growth and draws satisfaction from coaching.

Gallup CliftonStrengths® 34 · Rafa Calvo · Assessed 09/05/2025

Key Skills & Expertise
Crypto & Stablecoins Fintech Strategy Digital Wallets BNPL Strategic Partnerships Business Development Account Management Embedded Finance Product Delivery Team Leadership EU & US Markets Payments Innovation Mobile Payments Merchant Enablement