New Visa CEO Sees “Huge Opportunity” to Build Brand Loyalty

Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. officially took the helm as CEO of Visa on Dec. 1. He has spent a lot of time traveling since he started at the company, taking over for Charlie Scharf. Kelly is very proud of Visa’s global status and believes the brand is squarely positioned to extend and expand brand loyalty.

“We’re in a growth industry, and there’s a huge opportunity in front of us,” Kelly said at the company’s Feb. 2 first-quarter earnings call. “The global opportunity to digitize cash and check is enormous. We have a vibrant core business in developed regions with even more growth opportunities in the international and emerging markets with low penetration rates. Governments and emerging middle classes are leading the way to digitize more payments in developing countries, while e-commerce is displacing cash and check in developed countries. Through our focus on technological innovation and partnership development, Visa is well positioned for sustained growth going forward.”

Just last June at the Bernstein 32nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, Scharf shared some definitive thoughts on the state of digitization of electronic payments.

“The fact is the way we think about it, we’re very, very early in the digitization of electronic payments,” Scharf said at the time. “Even though we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing for 50 some odd years and we’ve had the successes as the other networks have had, the fact is today we process $4 trillion-ish of U.S. dollar equivalents through our payment system. There is $11 trillion or $12 trillion of cash, up from $7 trillion when we went public; that’s still out there in the marketplace. So, there is more for us to intermediate than ever before and we have more tools to do it than ever before. Add to that the fact that commerce itself is moving to digital platforms. It doesn’t mean that the physical point-of-sale is going to disappear in the short term, but you certainly see the pressures that are brought to bear. And our products work better than any products in the marketplace to pay, as more and more commerce moves to digital platforms, be it in traditional retailers or other environments that exist out there. And so, when we come to work, we think about the opportunity is bigger than it has been, rather than the opposite.”

Meanwhile, Kelly said he has “no big plans” to change company strategy in the short term, “but as a key player in a dynamic payments ecosystem, we certainly have to be prepared as necessary to adapt to our thinking as facts and circumstances change. Over the last couple of months, I’ve spent the majority of my time traveling to meet our valued clients, regulatory personnel and talented employees. During this time, I met with or talked to over 50 clients. I’ve also visited with regulators or government officials in nine countries and visited 12 of our global offices. I have to say it’s been exhilarating and enjoyable. It has also reinforced my belief in our great global brand and the first-class group of clients that we have globally.”

Visa has strong relationships with its issuer clients, acquirer clients, and the merchant community of clients.

“And we’re constantly looking for ways to build upon those,” Kelly said. “It’s been very valuable for me to hear their perspectives on Visa and how we can be a better partner in addressing their business needs going forward. We need to identify areas where we can remove friction from the process, and enable digital payments as we pursue partnerships. At the same time, we recognize that this industry is very competitive, and the regulatory environment continues to evolve in many markets around the world.”
 
Alfred F. Kelly, Jr. officially took the helm as CEO of Visa on Dec. 1. He has spent a lot of time traveling since he started at the company, taking over for Charlie Scharf. Kelly is very proud of Visa’s global status and believes the brand is squarely positioned to extend and expand brand loyalty.

“We’re in a growth industry, and there’s a huge opportunity in front of us,” Kelly said at the company’s Feb. 2 first-quarter earnings call. “The global opportunity to digitize cash and check is enormous. We have a vibrant core business in developed regions with even more growth opportunities in the international and emerging markets with low penetration rates. Governments and emerging middle classes are leading the way to digitize more payments in developing countries, while e-commerce is displacing cash and check in developed countries. Through our focus on technological innovation and partnership development, Visa is well positioned for sustained growth going forward.”

Just last June at the Bernstein 32nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference, Scharf shared some definitive thoughts on the state of digitization of electronic payments.

“The fact is the way we think about it, we’re very, very early in the digitization of electronic payments,” Scharf said at the time. “Even though we’ve been doing what we’ve been doing for 50 some odd years and we’ve had the successes as the other networks have had, the fact is today we process $4 trillion-ish of U.S. dollar equivalents through our payment system. There is $11 trillion or $12 trillion of cash, up from $7 trillion when we went public; that’s still out there in the marketplace. So, there is more for us to intermediate than ever before and we have more tools to do it than ever before. Add to that the fact that commerce itself is moving to digital platforms. It doesn’t mean that the physical point-of-sale is going to disappear in the short term, but you certainly see the pressures that are brought to bear. And our products work better than any products in the marketplace to pay, as more and more commerce moves to digital platforms, be it traditional retailers or other environments that exist out there. And so, when we come to work, we think about the opportunity is bigger than it has been, rather than the opposite.”

Meanwhile, Kelly said he has “no big plans” to change company strategy in the short term, “but as a key player in a dynamic payments ecosystem, we certainly have to be prepared as necessary to adapt to our thinking as facts and circumstances change. Over the last couple of months, I’ve spent the majority of my time traveling to meet our valued clients, regulatory personnel and talented employees. During this time, I met with or talked to over 50 clients. I’ve also visited with regulators or government officials in nine countries and visited 12 of our global offices. I have to say it’s been exhilarating and enjoyable. It has also reinforced my belief in our great global brand and the first-class group of clients that we have globally.”

Visa has strong relationships with its issuer clients, acquire clients, and the merchant community of clients.

“And we’re constantly looking for ways to build upon those,” Kelly said. “It’s been very valuable for me to hear their perspectives on Visa and how we can be a better partner in addressing their business needs going forward. We need to identify areas where we can remove friction from the process, and enable digital payments as we pursue partnerships. At the same time, we recognize that this industry is very competitive, and the regulatory environment continues to evolve in many markets around the world.”

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