Stephen W. Orfei

As General Manager, Mr. Orfei leads the PCI Security Standards Council in its mission to educate, empower and protect payment data globally, working closely with merchants, acquirers, financial institutions, security practitioners, law enforcement and other key stakeholders across the global payment eco-system. Mr. Orfei is a recognised industry expert in global payment platforms, e-commerce, mobile payments, transit and cybersecurity. He is called on regularly for his expertise by government, law enforcement, industry groups and the media. Mr. Orfei has testified before the U.S. Congress as a cybersecurity expert, served as a representative of the United States at the G7 Roma Lyon group of world leaders on card crimes, participated in U.S. Presidential Cybersecurity Summits, and has played a leading role in global Acquirer Forums and PCI Community Meetings around the world. Orfei regularly meets with top U.S. government officials from a range of agencies to discuss cybersecurity and provide strategic guidance. A holder of several payments industry patents and awards, Mr. Orfei’s career spans senior posts at several high-profile companies including MCI International, a global telecommunications corporation, where as Director of International Marketing, he oversaw marketing for international business with direct revenue responsibility for over $400 million. Following his successful 13 years of service at MCI International, Orfei spent 14 years at MasterCard Worldwide, a global payments & technology company as Senior Vice-President Emerging Payment Platforms. In his role at MasterCard, Orfei managed all aspects of development, implementation, and deployment of emerging payment platforms across Global Products and Services. Among his many achievements, Orfei led the entrepreneurial initiative to design, build and demonstrate (NYC-MTA) the next generation of Automated Fare Collection Systems for the transit industry. The initiative was awarded the prestigious NYU Rubin Center Transportation Industry Innovation Award. Prior to his leadership of the PCI Security Standards Council, Mr. Orfei served as a security consultant where he led a highly credentialed security team to defend “high value targets” from cyber-attacks. Orfei is a former U.S. Marine who is active with veteran related charities including the Semper Fi Fund and the Wounded Warrior Project.