MasterCard Inc. has reassigned relationships with large issuers to regional divisions around the world, a move it said was designed to match its customers' operating models.
The Purchase, N.Y., company also said Tuesday that it has integrated "all products and solutions activities in each region to focus delivery on regional objectives."
As a part of the realignment, which MasterCard said aims to meet "customers' expectations in the new economic and marketplace environment," Chris McWilton was named the head of a new unit that combines an existing U.S. regional unit and relationships with large financial institutions based in the United States. Mr. McWilton was formerly in charge of relationships with large financial institutions around the world.
Walt Macnee, formerly president for global markets, was named president for international markets. MasterCard has divisions for Latin America and the Caribbean; Europe; Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa; and Canada.
The presidents of these divisions will continue to report to Mr. Macnee.
Tien-tsin Huang, an analyst at JPMorgan Securities Inc., said the new structure is more efficient. "They're just streamlining their customer-facing areas, to set it up such that the accounts are effectively flowing up to where the client resides," he said.
Mr. Huang said he did not find any new information about prospects for a successor to chief executive officer Robert Selander in the new lineup. "It seemed like everything was a sideways move," he said.
Mr. McWilton had been MasterCard's chief financial officer and Mr. Macnee its president for the Americas before a series of changes the company announced in November 2007.
At the time, Mr. Selander said that reshuffling was intended in part "to develop our executive bench strength by exposing some of our top executives to new areas of responsibility" and to prepare for the retirement of Alan Heuer as chief operating officer.
However, he also said then that no presumption should be made that Mr. Macnee, Mr. McWilton, or Gary Flood, who was named president for products and services, "have been preordained as the only future candidates for more senior roles."
Similarly, on Tuesday, MasterCard said nothing should be interpreted about succession because of the most recent changes.
Mr. Flood's group is now named Global Products and Solutions. The company said it would create regional lead roles for products and solutions that would report dually to him and to regional leaders.
His group will also include a Core Products division led by Timothy Murphy, formerly president of the U.S. region, whose responsibilities will include consumer, commercial, debit, and prepaid products; and an Innovative Platforms division, led by Joshua Peirez, formerly chief payment system integrity officer, whose responsibilities will include e-commerce, mobile, and chip products, and Orbiscom Ltd., the Irish payment software company that MasterCard said this week it had bought for $100 million.
Wendy Murdock, formerly chief product officer, was named head of payment system integrity and franchise development; she will report to Noah Hanft, MasterCard's general counsel.
