By Nupur Anand
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Takis Georgakopoulos, the global head of JPMorgan Chase’s payments business, is leaving to pursue other opportunities, prompting the bank to install new leaders atop one of its fastest-growing divisions, according to an internal memo obtained by Reuters on Monday seen.
Max Neukirchen and Umar Farooq have been chosen to succeed Georgakopoulos with immediate effect. The appointments are the latest major leadership changes made by CEO candidates Jennifer Piepszak and Troy Rohrbaugh as they make their mark on the recently merged commercial and investment banking division.
Georgakopoulos, who served on the company’s operating committee of top leaders, had been with the bank for 17 years and is credited with expanding its payments business, which processes $10 trillion a day.
“During his tenure, the business has become one of the company’s largest growth engines, increasing revenue and market share in a highly competitive environment,” Piepszak and Rohrbaugh, co-heads of the commercial and investment bank, wrote in an internal note to the employees. .
Companywide payments revenues totaled $4.46 billion in the first quarter, ahead of $2 billion in investment banking revenues.
“Payments clearly stand out from the rest,” Piepszak said last month during the bank’s annual investor day.
JPMorgan has a market share of more than 9% in global payments. Payment services are often offered first to new customers and have been among the bank’s biggest growth areas in recent years, executives told investors last month.
Neukirchen, who joined JPMorgan in 2013, was previously global head of Payments and Commerce Solutions.
Farooq was the CEO of Onyx, the bank’s blockchain platform. He joined JPMorgan in 2009.
Piepszak and Rohrbaugh are among the executives who could replace CEO Jamie Dimon, who plans to step down in less than five years.
Georgakopoulos is the latest senior executive to leave the commercial and investment banking division.
Viswas Raghavan, former head of JPMorgan’s Global Investment Banking, will join Citigroup this summer to lead its banking division. Fernando Rivas was named co-CEO of Wells Fargo for corporate and investment banking.
Separately, senior dealmakers Andy Lipsky and Haidee Lee joined other firms. Achintya Mangla, former global head of equity capital markets, also left.
