Trump picks Fiserv CEO to lead Social Security Administration

President-elect Donald Trump announced Wednesday that he is nominating Frank Bisignano, the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Milwaukee-based fintech company Fiserv to be the commissioner of the Social Security Administration.

“Frank is a business leader, with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations. He will be responsible to deliver on the agency’s commitment to the American people for generations to come,” Trump said in a post to his Truth Social network.

Fiserv provides financial technology and services to banks, credit unions and other clients in the financial services industry.

Bisignano became chairman and CEO of First Data Corp. in 2013. He joined Fiserv in 2019 as president and chief operating officer as part of its acquisition of First Data. He was named CEO of Fiserv in 2020 and became chairman in 2022.

In late 2022 he signed a contract to remain CEO of Fiserv through at least the end of 2027.

His total compensation in 2023 was nearly $28 million, according to securities filings. He is the highest paid CEO of the public companies based in southeastern Wisconsin.

If the U.S. Senate confirms him, Bisignano would oversee a federal agency with almost 60,000 employees.

Fiserv held an investor call Thursday morning where Bisignano discussed why he decided to take the new job. He noted how prior generations in his family had served the country and many family gatherings featured uncles debating which branch of the military was better. Bisignano said he regretted having not served, but also said he had no aspiration to be in government.

“I really like the opportunity for the country because it is an independent agency,” he said of the commissioner role. “It serves the American public, so my clients are your families.”

Bisignano said addressing Social Security is a bipartisan issue facing the country, noting his plans do not include cutting benefits for any American and “we’re going to fix it by doing other things.”

“The job needs to be done. It’s not glamourous, maybe that’s why I want it,” he said.

As for who will lead Fiserv if he is confirmed by the Senate, Bisignano said emphasized that the company has a succession plan in place.

“I don’t think we’re going to announce a successor unless I’m confirmed by the Senate, I just want you to know that,” he said. “That’s not for lack of knowing what we’re going to do.”

Bisignano said the timeline would likely be measured in months, not weeks, and said he plans to be on Fiserv’s next earnings call in February.

He stressed that the company has worked to develop its succession plans and has a deep level of talent.

Asked if those plans and the talent Fiserv has developed mean his successor would be an internal candidate, Bisignano didn’t rule out an external candidate, noting he’d received expressions of interests from people who heard he was nominated for the Social Security Administration job.

“We have a very strong succession plan, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to have blinders on either,” he said.

Until he is potentially confirmed by the Senate, Bisignano said he plans to continue running and leading Fiserv.

“I got a great fricking gig here man. I’ve got a great board, I’ve got a great management team, I’ve got fabulous clients,” he said, ticking off a number of meetings he had scheduled the remainder of the morning with CEOs of Fiserv clients. “I’m going to be growing revenue the rest of the day.”

BizTimes Media managing editor Arthur Thomas contributed to this story.