Visa CEO Charles Scharf to resign,
ex-AmEx president to take over
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[October 18, 2016]
By Sudarshan Varadhan and Anya George Tharakan
(Reuters) - Visa Inc said Chief Executive
Charles Scharf, who orchestrated the company's reunion with its European
affiliate, is stepping down and will be succeeded by former American
Express Co President Alfred Kelly.
Kelly, who already sits on Visa's board of directors, will take over as
CEO following Scharf's resignation, which is effective Dec. 1.
Kelly said in an interview with Reuters that he "got a front row seat to
the various opportunities and issues the company faces" as a Visa board
member since January 2014.
"I don't come in here expecting to make a lot of big changes," he said.
Scharf said in a letter to employees that he could no longer spend the
time in San Francisco necessary to do his job properly and is resigning
to spend more time with his family.
Visa's shares, which have more than doubled in value under Scharf's
watch, were down 1.2 percent at $81.19 in after-market trading.
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Kelly takes over at a time when Visa faces multiple challenges,
including a federal appeals court decision in June to throw out a
settlement with retailers that accused Visa and MasterCard Inc of
improperly fixing credit and debit card fees.
Visa also has an ongoing legal battle with Wal-Mart Stores Inc over the
use of PINs to verify transactions made over the company's payment
networks.
Kelly will have to look to consolidate Visa's position as the largest
payments network operator in the world, even as non-traditional
competitors such as PayPal Holdings Inc try to capture market share.
Kelly said on a conference call with analysts that he will be spending a
significant amount of time in San Francisco, where Visa is
headquartered, in addition to spending time in Europe to supervise
integration with Visa Europe and in China.
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A Visa logo is seen on a Formula E racing car during a news
conference to present the partnership between Enel Group and FIA
Formula E Championship at the MAXXI National Museum in Rome, Italy
May 17, 2016 REUTERS/Alessandro Bianchi
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Under Scharf, Visa closed a deal to combine with former unit Visa
Europe in June.
Scharf has been CEO since November 2012, after working with JPMorgan
Chase & Co's retail banking business and its private equity arm.
"He has helped transform Visa .. into a technology-driven digital
commerce company and has led a strategy that will benefit this
company for years to come," Robert Matschullat, the company's
independent chairman, said in a statement.
Kelly is also the CEO of Intersection Co, a firm partly owned by
Sidewalk Labs, an Alphabet Inc company.
(Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Sudarshan Varadhan in
Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Leslie Adler)
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