The former chief executive of HSBC’s fintech venture SemFi, Vinay Mendoca, has joined Finastra as head of product trade and supply chain finance.

Mendonca has officially been with Finastra, a global fintech company that provides software solutions to financial institutions, including 90 of the top 100 banks, since mid-January.

His newly created role within the lending business unit will see him report to chief product officer, Rick Foresta, and work closely alongside chief revenue officer Lekshmi Nair and chief technology officer Sarah Maleka.

Based in London but with a global remit, Mendonca will “drive strategy to design, develop and commercialise solutions for banks, in a rapidly evolving market, working with partners to drive digitisation and enable profitable growth with robust risk management”, he told GTR.

He left HSBC at the end of last year after the bank undertook a leadership shake-up of SemFi, a joint venture with US firm Tradeshift and one of its key fintech projects, less than a year after its October 2024 launch.

Including his time heading SemFi, Mendonca spent nearly two decades at the British lender in various roles across trade finance and payments – including chief product officer and chief growth officer for HSBC’s global trade business.

His prior experience includes roles at Infosys, BNP Paribas and Reliance Industries Limited, and he has worked in different countries including India, the Netherlands, Hong Kong and the UK.

Mendonca’s appointment follows Finastra’s launch of its Trade Innovation Nexus last September, an integration layer that simplifies access to its platform, as it looks to spur banks to “innovate faster”.