New York: Ajaypal Banga is appointed as the new COO of MasterCard, the second biggest card network after Visa. The 49 year old will join MasterCard in August this year.

Ajaypal Banga, Asia-Pacific CEO of Citigroup, will get a package of about Rs. 90 crore as the new second-in-command at payment services firm MasterCard. This offer could be states as the biggest package in the current slowdown.

Banga will join as its new President and Chief Operating Officer on August 31 and could possibly become CEO within a year's time as the current CEO is expected to quit in August.

Banga will be paid around $2.15 million (about Rs. 10 crore) in salary and other allowances every year and would also get a onetime benefit of $15.9 million (about Rs. 80 crore) including a sign-on bonus of about $4.2 million.

The package includes over $11 million to be paid through stocks and remainder in cash, makes Banga the highest-paid banker after American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault as $42.8 million and Citi Chief Vikram Pandit as $8.2 million, as per the disclosed remuneration paid to the two in the year 2008.

Banga would probably become the highest paid banker, as the packages for both Pandit and Chenault could come down in 2009.