Visa CEO Al Kelly is stepping down and the card network company will promote President Ryan McInerney to chief executive next February. said in a press release Thursday.
Kelly will remain with the company as Executive Chairman. Visa, the largest card network company in the United States, has been preparing McInerney for its top role for almost a decade. He will start his new job on February 1, according to a release by the San Francisco-based company.
“Ryan’s appointment reflects the board’s highly established and thoughtful succession planning,” said John Lundgren, the company’s lead independent director, in a release.
McInerney, 47, was hired as President of Visa in 2013. He started his career at McKinsey, a global consulting firm, before working at JPMorgan as his CEO of Consumer Banking. According to visa application with the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding his appointment. McInerney was unanimously elected to the new position by the board and is expected to join next year, the filing said.
“Ryan has boundless energy and passion for this business and his role as president. As a close partner of mine for the past six years, he is familiar with how Visa operates and the exciting opportunities this industry presents. release.
Kelly, 64, is CEO Since 2016, he has been chairman since 2019. He led Visa through turbulent times in recent years, riding through his COVID-19 pandemic that began in early 2020 and racing against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine earlier this year and a rollercoaster ride to evacuate employees. . Since 2020, the company’s stock has been on the rise. Stocks are down slightly from their peak reached in mid-2021.
In a presentation at the Citi Financial Technology Conference on Tuesday, McInerney He praised the company’s business opportunities across a range of segments, from B2B to access to earned wages to remittances, and described possibilities around the world from Africa to Canada. “There’s a lot of room for execution,” he said.
This transition comes at a time when international companies are looking to continue growing in a world where card companies are facing economic challenges in many of the countries in which they operate. Visa was forced to withdraw from the region after Russia invaded Ukraine earlier this year and, like other companies, has been waiting for China to fully recover from the shock of the pandemic.
Despite the pandemic and other setbacks, Visa has managed to boost its profits and revenues, aided by increased e-commerce and debit card usage, but it remains a competitive area to offer alternative payment tools such as: We also face questions about the expansion of Funding options to buy now and pay later.
When asked about a potential acquisition at the City Conference, McInerney said the current global economic climate also made it more likely.
“We see a lot of opportunities right now, especially over the next six, 12, 18 months, you can imagine,” said McInerney. “We spend a lot of time understanding different companies around the world that are active in all areas of the value-added services business.”
The expertise he has gained traveling the world for the company guides all of these investments. “We’re familiar with how they make money, how they get into the market, and that kind of stuff,” he explained. , aims to become an opportunistic investor and corporate acquirer in the near future.”
