Dive Brief:
- Payments processor Fiserv appointed Michael Lyons as CEO on Tuesday, replacing Frank Bisignano, who will become commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
- The Senate approved Bisignano's nomination to lead the Social Security Administration on a party-line 53-47 vote Tuesday, with all Republicans voting in favor and all Democrats voting against. President Donald Trump selected Bisignano for the role in December.
- Fiserv also named Doyle R. Simons, who has served as lead independent director on its board, as non-executive chairman in the Tuesday post on Fiserv’s website, minutes after the Senate vote. “Together with my fellow board members, we look forward to working with Mike and the entire management team as they continue to drive growth, innovation, and industry leadership,” Simons said in the release.
Dive Insight:
Before joining Fiserv in January as president and CEO-elect, Lyons served as president of PNC, where he had also worked for about 12 years as head of corporate and institutional banking, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Lyons was set to become Fiserv’s CEO on June 30 unless Bisignano was to be confirmed sooner, according to the company.
Fiserv CFO Bob Hau told investors in March that Lyons had come up to speed quickly after joining the company.
“I would say probably 10 days into that transition, Frank declared the transition over internally,” Hau said. After a recent manager’s meeting, Bisignano said, ‘OK, we’re done. Mike and I are now leading the company together.’”
In a statement Tuesday, Lyons said he is “proud to lead an organization that provides exceptional solutions to financial institutions, merchants, and communities of all sizes while driving growth and long-term value for our shareholders.”
PNC last month named Mark Wiedman, formerly BlackRock’s global head of client business, as its next president. Further, the Pittsburgh-based bank’s chief operating officer, E. William Parsley III, will leave that role July 1, leaving Wiedman as the presumed front-runner to succeed Bill Demchak as CEO — though Demchak has not indicated any plan to step away.
During his confirmation hearing, Bisignano faced intense questioning from Senate Democrats over his ties to the Department of Government Efficiency. A March 24 whistleblower report accused Bisignano of personally intervening to place, at the Social Security Administration, a DOGE staffer who allegedly was given access to Americans' personal information.
Sen. Ron Wyden, D-OR, contended that Bisignano lied about the whistleblower report. “When pressed on it during his confirmation hearing, he lied to me and the Committee, saying he had no direct involvement with DOGE,” Wyden said in a floor speech Tuesday ahead of the Senate vote.
While Bisignano did not directly answer questions about protecting Social Security benefits from cuts or opposing the privatization of Social Security during his March confirmation hearing, he did provide a guarantee that he would preserve the program.
Bisignano became Fiserv's CEO in 2020. He took that role after serving as CEO of rival First Data, a position he held when that company was acquired by Fiserv in 2019. Before joining First Data, he worked for JPMorgan Chase, where he was promoted to co-chief operating officer in 2012.
