Payments giant Fiserv names Bisignano to succeed Yabuki as CEO

NEW YORK (Reuters) – Payments giant Fiserv Inc said Thursday that Frank Bisignano would become the company’s chief executive on July 1, with long-time head Jeffery Yabuki remaining on as executive chairman until the end of the year.

The announcement, marking the end of Yabuki’s 15-year tenure at the top of the Brookfield, Wisconsin-based business, came on the day that Fiserv announced a slight increase in adjusted revenue in the first quarter compared with a year earlier.

At one time considered a possible successor to Jamie Dimon at JPMorgan Chase & Co , Bisignano ran First Data Corp until its $22 billion acquisition by Fiserv last year.

“If you go back (to the merger announcement in January 2019), nothing was mentioned and we didn’t write anything down, but we have got to know each other since then,” Bisignano told Reuters.

“This was Jeff’s decision and I’m happy to take on the role.”

Yabuki oversaw a period of significant growth for both Fiserv and the payments industry, with the global economy embracing electronic methods of transacting, both between businesses and with their customers.

With a market capitalization of nearly $73 billion, Fiserv has grown into one of the largest payments companies in the world. It has around 44,000 employees and deals with financial institutions and businesses in around 100 countries, according to its website.

In its earnings on Thursday, Fiserv reported adjusted revenue of $3.48 billion, although Yabuki noted the company had experienced a “significant impact” in its business at the end of the reporting period due to the global coronavirus pandemic.

Looking forward, Bisignano said Fiserv had strong recurring revenue and a number of synergies from the First Data merger which would support its performance, although he stressed the importance of small businesses reopening and the likely slow economic recovery.

(Reporting by David French and Greg Roumeliotis in New York; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)