Stuart Harvey Jr. is stepping down as the chief executive of Elavon Inc., and will be succeeded by Mike Passilla, the Atlanta processor's executive vice president for global business development.
Harvey, who joined Elavon in 2003, will become the CEO next month of Ceridian Corp., a Minneapolis human resources firm.
The change will not lead to a shift in Elavon's direction, said Passilla, who will take the reins Aug. 16 as the president and CEO of the U.S. Bancorp unit.
"Part of my goal … is to build on the momentum that we have collectively created over the last five years," Passilla said in an interview Tuesday. International growth is a key part of that, he said.
Earlier this year, Elavon said it was in exclusive talks with State Bank of India for a merchant acquiring joint venture with Visa Inc. in India.
And in Mexico, Banco Santander SA is offering Elavon's merchant acquiring services to merchants. "We will continue to expand into other areas of Latin America," Passilla said, and the company is looking at expansion in Southeast Asia.
Passilla said his background in business development, sales and marketing would be valuable in moving into other nations and new markets. "Our entire strategy is only to go in, hand in hand, with established partners," he said.
Another strength Passilla identified is Elavon's single processing platform, which makes it easier to develop new products and services for clients anywhere in the world. "We've done a lot of hard work to get our infrastructure down to a single platform," he said. "Our focus is on enabling commerce around the world."
