The president of Banc One Corp.'s credit card business has quietly changed jobs to manage the company's Internet initiatives.
For the past six weeks, Mark K. Tonnesen, 44, has been chief development officer of a new division focusing on electronic payments and commerce.
"We are doing a lot in this area," said Mr. Tonnesen, "but we need a better sense of what we are aiming for long-term."
The nine-year Banc One veteran will continue to report to Jeffrey P. Neubert, chairman and chief executive of Banc One Credit Card Services Co., Columbus, Ohio, but he is working independently of that unit.
For the time being, Mr. Neubert has assumed Mr. Tonnesen's duties as president of the card services company.
Mr. Tonnesen, who is also a senior vice president of the parent, Banc One Corp., is cobbling together a team of executives from various parts of the company, including cards, cash management, and retail banking.
Banc One, which is seeking to improve coordination of the work done under its decentralized management structure, has many initiatives occurring at relatively low levels of the organization, said Mr. Tonnesen. "Whether or not those initiatives are strategically focused is happenstance," he said. "We want to make sure that all of our efforts are cohesive."
Mr. Tonnesen declined to elaborate on projects that are underway. He said his initial task - defining a corporate strategy - will be completed within nine months.
Banc One spokesman John Russell described Mr. Tonnesen's mission as critical to a bank that is investing heavily in electronic payment systems.
"Now is a good time for someone to step back and look at the digital world," said Mr. Tonnesen.
Banc One's electronic initiatives have included screen telephones and a relationship with Open Market Inc., a Cambridge, Mass., company that offers Internet commerce systems. Banc One also is providing electronic data interchange and payment services to Rowecom Inc. of Boston, which is developing an Internet-based document retrieval system.
