As Lyons Moves to Truist, Fiserv Appoints a New CEO

Michael Lyons, chief executive of Fiserv Inc. since May last year, is leaving the big processor to take on the role of chief executive at Truist Financial Corp. Fiserv announced co-president Takis Georgakopoulos has succeeded Lyons as CEO and member of the board of directors, effective immediately.

That appointment is expected to calm a market rattled by the surprise announcement of Lyons’s departure after 18 months at the company. Georgakopoulos arrived at Fiserv in late summer 2024 from JPMorgan, where he had worked for 17 years, rising to become global head for JP Morgan Payments.

The news of the immediate appointment of Georgakopoulos came as Fiserv’s announcement of Lyons’s departure shook equity markets. Its stock had slid 8% by mid-morning, to $48.44 per share. Its stock price has already shrunk considerably in the past year, from $177.36 in mid-June last year. But observers say the board’s move to replace Lyons was likely well planned. “They needed to suss everything out before they made their choice,” notes Cliff Gray, proprietor at payments advisory Gray Consulting.

 Lyons came to the processor from PNC Financial Services Group to succeed long-time CEO Frank Bisignano, who had left the company to run the Social Security Administration for the incoming Trump administration. Under his leadership, Fiserv sought to expand the market reach for Clover, its signature point-of-sale technology, adding two new markets earlier this year in health care and professional services. Still, despite a 12% year-over-year jump in first-quarter gross payment volume, Clover sustained a 9% drop in revenue for the period.

Overall, Fiserv earlier this year posted a 2% decline in first-quarter adjusted revenue, to $4.68 billion, while its adjusted operating margin dropped more than 800 basis points, to 29.7%. Its key merchant-solutions business reported flat revenue, at $2.37 billion, with a drop in adjusted operating margin to 26.4% from 34.2%.