By: 4 January 2023

Stephen Grainger joins from Mastercard, where he was executive vice president, leading the development and commercialisation of its global cross-border services business, servicing banks, digital platforms and non-bank financial institutions

Swift has appointed Stephen Grainger as chief executive for the Americas and UK.  

In his new role, Grainger will focus on developing strategic customer relationships, supporting customers as they work to transform the cross-border payment experience for their end clients, and work with securities players to improve the efficiency of post-trade processing. 

Grainger joins from Mastercard, where he was executive vice president, leading the development and commercialisation of its global cross-border services business, servicing banks, digital platforms and non-bank financial institutions. 

He has two decades of experience in the banking world and previously worked for Swift in senior business development roles. 

He has also held positions at Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Citigroup. 

Rosemary Stone, chief business development officer at Swift, commented: “Stephen’s industry experience makes him ideally qualified to lead our Americas and UK businesses into the next stage of growth, as we continue to deliver our strategic objectives to best serve the Swift community.” 

Stephen Grainger

Stephen Grainger

Grainger added: “I am delighted to be returning to Swift at this particularly exciting stage in the organisation’s development.  

“I greatly look forward to supporting the business as it works to transform cross-border payments and securities processing for the benefit of the financial industry.” 

The announcement follows a recent reshuffle on the Swift board of directors, as Yawar Shah retired after 16 years as chair.  

Deputy chair Mark Buitenhek will cover until a new chair is formally elected by the board in the coming months.  

Image: Swift

Josh Poyser
Josh Poyser is an editor at FinTech Intel. He has written about fintech for several years and appeared at FinTech Connect 2023 on the 'Unlocking Success: The Art of Fintech PR' panel.