Viju Varma Joins CellPoint Mobile as Chief Product Officer
Former Emirates executive brings combined technical and commercial expertise along with major airline experience; will define and hone product strategy
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates, June 11, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- CellPoint Mobile, a global provider of sales and payment-side technology solutions for the travel and transportation sectors, announced today that Viju Varma has joined its executive team as Chief Product Officer (CPO). As the company continues along its global growth trajectory, Mr. Varma will help articulate its product strategy and accelerate the development of its technology solutions for travel merchants in all geographies.
Mr. Varma comes to CellPoint Mobile from Emirates, the world's fastest-growing airline. His experience in a variety of senior executive roles for the major international carrier – ranging from sales and ancillary revenue development to ecommerce and systems and operations – will help CellPoint Mobile to continuously advance its solutions and product lines to meet the specific needs of the travel ecosystem across air, ground-sea and hospitality.
"We anticipate Viju's unique perspective – owing to his years in the travel sector, lastly at Emirates – and his outstanding executive capabilities will propel our company's products forward into our next growth phase," said Kristian Gjerding, CEO of CellPoint Mobile. "Having him onboard reinforces our global standing and our dedication to the airline and other passenger transportation sectors, and positions our product development process for optimization."
Mr. Varma's former company, Emirates, currently partners with CellPoint Mobile, which provides the airline with payment solutions, including support for alternative payment methods (APMs). Emirates is a global airline, serving 155 airports in 83 countries and earning revenues approaching $28B annually; it is from this environment of high growth, reach and financial performance that Mr. Varma comes to CellPoint Mobile.
With significant expertise in product roadmap development, implementation, technology platform optimization, systems strategy and revenue development, Mr. Varma will be tasked with developing CellPoint Mobile's product strategy and raising the company's current competitive plane. Given CellPoint Mobile's client base and long history in the airline sector, Mr. Varma's keen understanding of airlines' needs, challenges and specific pain points will play a large role in influencing his approach.
Prior to joining CellPoint Mobile, Mr. Varma was the Head of E-Commerce for Mobile and Ancillary (Systems & Operations) at Emirates, a role he describes as "techno-functional" for its unique position at the juncture of commercial value generation and IT product development. In this role, he increased online sales by a factor of 6, and doubled the percentage of revenue the airline earned from its online channel. Also at Emirates, Mr. Varma served as Head of IT Accounts for Destination and Leisure Management and as a Strategic Pricing Analyst in the Revenue Optimization department. He is also a veteran of the several other airline and IT domains, and a literal veteran of the Indian Air Force.
"CellPoint Mobile is an innovative, fast-moving company with a suite of products that I know, firsthand, are revolutionizing the airline industry," said Viju Varma. "My goal is to help our clients increase their revenue capabilities, improve traveler interaction and streamline the path to purchase. And I'm confident with the teams and support systems we have in place, we will achieve that goal."
For more information, or to schedule an interview with Viju Varma or CEO Kristian Gjerding of CellPoint Mobile, contact Kristin Grages at kgrages@thinkinkpr.com.
About CellPoint Mobile: We Make Travel Easier™ for airlines, travel companies and their customers.
CellPoint Mobile provides airlines, ground transportation providers, hospitality firms and travel companies across the globe with flexible, configurable solutions that help them collect revenues from the mobile channel and profitably manage interactions and transactions from both the selling side and the payment side. Dedicated to a client-first, mobile-first culture since 2007, CellPoint Mobile provides companies with the fintech and travel-tech solutions they need to get to market quickly: booking, payments, alternative payment methods, ancillary sales, loyalty transactions, communications, stored payment capability, real-time reporting, reconciliation, connections to payment service providers (PSPs) and acquirers, and more. Serving companies on five continents, CellPoint Mobile has locations in Miami, London, Copenhagen, Dubai, Pune and Singapore. Visit www.cellpointmobile.com to learn more.
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