Roger Hochschild will succeed the retiring David Nelms as CEO of Discover.
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Hochschild, 53, the current president and chief operating officer, has been with Discover for 20 years, and will retain his title as president upon assuming the CEO role on Oct. 1. Nelms, 57, will continue as executive chairman until his retirement early in 2019.
David Nelms, chief executive officer of Discover Financial Services, speaks during the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., on Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2014. The conference, which includes over 100 sessions and 500 speakers, explores the evolution of payments and financial services and the innovations that are driving trends in the mobile, retail, marketing services, data and technology sectors. Photographer: Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg *** Local Caption *** David Nelms
Jacob Kepler/Bloomberg
Hochschild will take the helm of a company facing increased competition from fintechs and other issuers such as Wells Fargo and Citigroup. It recently offered debit rewards as part of its competitive response.
Discover has also partnered with JCB and First Data to expand services in Hong Kong, and last month reported improved profits despite an increase in charge-offs.
Hochschild "has been integral to Discover's growth and to our achievement of an average 19% ROE over the past 20 years," Nelms said in a press release.
Before joining Discover, Hochschild worked for Booz Allen and served in several roles at MBNA. Nelms has been Discover's chief executive since 2004.
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