By: 25 November 2022

Ryan McInerney will take over from Alfred F Kelly Jr, who has been chief executive officer and chairman since 2016 and 2019, respectively

Visa has appointed Ryan McInerney as its new chief executive officer. He is currently president of the company and will start his new role in February next year. 

McInerney will take over from Alfred F Kelly Jr, who has been chief executive officer and chairman since 2016 and 2019, respectively. Kelly will now take the role of executive chairman of the board.  

“I cannot think of a finer leader to continue to position Visa at the centre of money movement in increasingly innovative ways,” said Kelly.  

“As my close partner for the past six years, he has become intimately familiar with how Visa operates and the exciting opportunities this industry presents. I feel privileged to entrust Ryan with the leadership of this great company and am confident Visa is poised for more success in the years to come.” 

As president, McInerney oversaw the company’s market teams, business units, product team, merchant team and client services.  

Ryan McInerney

Ryan McInerney

On his new role, McInerney said: “I am looking forward to continuing to help Visa deliver innovative solutions that help individuals, businesses, and economies thrive.” 

During his time as chief executive officer, Kelly has led Visa through a period of fundamental change in a payments ecosystem that the company traditionally dominates, ushering it through developments in technology, expansion of reach and new ways to pay. 

Increasing digitisation and the development of novel payment methods can be seen at the FIFA World Cup in Qatar, where Visa is an official partner of FIFA. 

Visa has set up a payments network that will enable contactless purchases throughout all official venues, including eight stadiums and the FIFA Fan Festival. 

Image: Business Wire

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.