Digital Transactions Authoritative, insightful and timely information for payments professionals
On the same day that Visa International gained a new chief executive, Visa USA lost its top marketing officer. Rebecca Saeger, executive vice president for brand management, is leaving to take a senior marketing post at Charles Schwab & Co. Inc. in San Francisco, according to an internal announcement distributed today by Carl Pascarella, chief executive of Visa USA. Her last day at Visa is March 12. The card association is seeking her replacement. A former executive at Foot, Cone & Belding and Ogilvy & Mather, Saeger has been at Visa since 1997 and is responsible for advertising, marketing, and sports and events sponsorships. She is one of six executives reporting directly to Pascarella. In his memo released today, Pascarella praised Saeger as “an ardent champion of the Visa brand as we've worked to evolve our positioning from that of a credit card company to a payments company…We will miss Becky's brand stewardship and her many contributions to Visa's strong market position.” The three marketing executives reporting to Saeger will report directly to Pascarella, the memo says, until her replacement has been found. Earlier today, Visa International announced its board had appointed Christopher Rodrigues, chief executive of Bradford & Bingley, a UK banking firm, as its new chief executive, replacing Malcolm Williamson, who has stepped down after five years at the helm.
