Commercial Strategy Executive
I use analytics and commercial judgment to understand what is creating value, where value is being lost, and translate that understanding into stronger commercial decisions.
Executive Profile
CURRENT Founder & Principal · CarlosUrena.com
Across Citi, Deutsche Bank, HSBC, and Mashreq, I have worked at the intersection of payments, pricing, product management and commercialization.
That work has included product and commercial responsibility for a payments portfolio generating more than $200 million in annual revenue.
Pricing has been a throughline across my career, beginning as an analytical discipline and later becoming part of broader product management and commercialization responsibilities. That grounding shaped how I approach payments today: I start by understanding where the value is before determining the commercial path forward.
I like working through difficult problems with people. Sometimes that means getting out of the office, grabbing a cup of coffee and talking through the problem, then coming back to see whether the data supports the assumptions we made.
Outside of work, I'm a husband and dad, and a lifelong New York sports fan.
Perspective
Revenue, volume, adoption and execution tell part of the story. But the decisions that determine long-term value often sit underneath those visible outcomes - in the economics of the portfolio, the dependencies between functions, and the way capabilities translate into client value.
That leads to three convictions that shape how I approach commercial decisions.
Growth, revenue or activity can appear healthy while the underlying economics tell a different story. Better decisions begin by understanding what is actually creating value, where value is being lost, and which trade-offs the headline measures do not reveal.
The most consequential commercial decisions rarely belong to one function. Product, Finance, Sales, Operations, Risk and Technology each see part of the answer. Stronger decisions come from connecting those perspectives and understanding how choices in one part of the business affect the economics of another.
Building a capability is not the same as creating value. Sustainable performance comes when what the organization can deliver, what clients genuinely need and will adopt, and how the business creates economic value are considered together.
Payments
Payments has been the primary proving ground for my commercial thinking.
My experience spans cash management, USD clearing, cross-border payments, pricing, liquidity, product management and commercialization.
Sometimes the right decision becomes clearer when you understand why clients still need the product.
In one portfolio review, a low-margin payment capability was being considered for discontinuation. Looking more closely at client usage showed that it supported specific trade-finance needs for which other payment methods were not complete substitutes.
The decision shifted from whether to eliminate the product to how to preserve the client value while changing its access and economics. With competitors exiting the business, retaining the capability also preserved a point of differentiation. The capability remained in the portfolio, client usage held, and the economics improved.
I built that discipline more than once, independently, at three separate institutions across my career. The Payments Franchise Index is the systematized version of what I kept rebuilding by hand.
Original Work
A structured self-assessment for understanding the commercial health of a payments franchise.
The Payments Franchise Index looks beyond individual products and headline growth measures. Across seven dimensions, it helps identify where evidence may warrant closer attention. PFI helps identify where to look; deeper examination determines what, if anything, should change.
A structured view across seven dimensions of payments franchise performance.
See how the evidence differs across the seven dimensions, including areas of relative strength.
Surface specific evidence and patterns that may warrant closer attention.
Identify where deeper examination may be warranted before determining what, if anything, should change.
49 questions · 7 dimensions · Responses saved in this browser · Executive results experience
Explore the Payments Franchise IndexExperience
My responsibilities have grown from pricing and analytics into broader product management, commercialization and commercial leadership.
Citi → Deutsche Bank → HSBC → Mashreq
$1.8MIncremental annual revenue from a new pricing and governance framework
Payments Product Management · Commercial Strategy · Pricing & Monetization · Product Commercialization · Portfolio Economics · USD Clearing & Cross-Border Payments · Liquidity · Executive Decision Support
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If you're working through a difficult question in payments or commercial strategy, I'd enjoy comparing perspectives.
Disclaimer: The views, opinions, and content published on this website are my own and are shared in a personal capacity. Nothing on this site represents the views, positions, or endorsement of any current or former employer or affiliated organization. The content is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute professional advice.