Professor Lord Meghnad Desai is Emeritus Professor of Economics at the London School of Economics which he joined in 1965 and where he established the Centre for the Study of Global Governance in 1992. His research interests include economics, international political economy, economic history, South-Asian studies and globalisation. He gained his Economics BA and MA at Bombay [Mumbai] University and carried out his doctorate at University of Pennsylvania. Among his honours are Bharat Gaurav (Indian Merchants Chamber 2002), Pravasi Bharatiya Puraskar (Government of India and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry 2004). He has authored or edited 20 books and written 200 articles for academic journals and books. He contributes to newspapers in the UK and India. Recent books include Marx’s Revenge: The Resurgence of Capitalism and Death of Statist Socialism; Nehru’s Hero: Dilip Kumar in the Life of India; Development and Nationhood: Essays on the Political Economy of South Asia; and The Rediscovery of India.

Mrs Anna Omarini is Researcher and Adjunct Professor in Financial Markets and Institutions and in Private Banking at the Bocconi University. She is also Senior Professor at SDA Bocconi School of Management, where she teaches Marketing management for financial services and Retail Banking. Her main research areas are: Retail banking, Bank Marketing and Loyalty management, Cards. Anna is author of several articles and books on the related field issues and she has been speaker and chairman in many national and international conferences. Mrs Omarini had been in charge for the role of President of Si Servizi, a payment servicing company belonging to Gruppo CartaSì, from April 2007 to July 2009.

Professor Steve Worthington is Professor of Marketing at Monash University in the Faculty of Business and Economics. He specialises in the issues surrounding the distribution of financial services particularly via plastic cards and in the organisation and control of the payment systems through which these cards are used. Steve has published widely, both in academic journals such as Journal of Marketing Management, Journal of Retailing and Consumer Services and the International Journal of Bank Marketing, and in more practitioner focused publications such as The Financial Times, European Card Review, and Cards International. He has also written a number of case studies concerning both bank and retailer provision of financial services. A frequent presenter/chairman at industry conferences, Steve has also been used by the media as independent commentator on the delivery of financial services by plastic cards.

Xiang Songzuo is Chief Economist at the Agricultural Bank of China having joined in March 2012. He is also Deputy Director and Senior Fellow at the Centre for International Monetary Research, Renmin University of China. He is Professor of Economics at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Editor-in-Chief, Global Finance & Business, and Chief Economist, Institute of Global Finance & Business. Songzuo’s career includes spells
as chairman and chief executive of Hurray! Solutions and as executive deputy chief of fund planning department at People’s Bank of China Shenzhen special economic zone branch. He has also been a real estate market analyst and manager of the strategic investment and planning department in the chief executive’s office at Shenzhen Resources & Property Development. He achieved a Master of International Affairs in Economic Policy Management at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University, New York and was Visiting Scholar at Judge Institute of Management Studies, Cambridge University. He has published numerous academic papers and dissertations and is editor and Chinese translator of Selected Works
on Economics of Robert A. Mundell. He is editor of two book series at Renmin University Publishing House.