NationsBank Corp. and BankAmerica Corp. have named six executives to the credit card team that will take over when the institutions merge Oct. 1.
G. Patrick Phillips, previously designated president of the card services group for the new BankAmerica Corp., announced the appointments in an internal memorandum.
The biggest question it answered was about Eileen M. Friars, who has been running NationsBank's card business since 1991. She was one of those assigned a role at the new bank, but her counterpart at BankAmerica, Stephen B. Galasso, was not.
Ms. Friars will be in charge of consumer marketing and service delivery. But the other areas she has supervised at NationsBank -- including merchant services, commercial cards, risk control, technology, and service delivery -- have fallen to others.
The new job "is not viewed as a lesser role for Eileen," said Laura Hunter, a NationsBank spokeswoman. "If anything, her responsibilities will be as great if not greater."
The two card portfolios are roughly the same size and would total about $22 billion, the sixth-largest among banks.
Mr. Galasso, who has supervised BankAmerica?s card business since 1995, will remain in his job until the merger is completed, Ms. Hunter said.
The executives reporting to Mr. Phillips, besides Ms. Friars, are: Sharif Bayyari, who currently heads BA Merchant Services and will continue in that role; Bearle Chamblee from NationsBank, who will head commercial cards; Kieth Cockrell from BankAmerica, debit and smart cards; Robert Box from NationsBank, risk control; and Gil Jones from BankAmerica, technology.
Belva Wallace will report to Ms. Friars on customer service, new accounts processing, and card issuance. Ms. Wallace, Mr. Chamblee, and Mr. Box currently report to Ms. Friars.
