Barclaycard US Names New Payments Leader

Barclaycard US said on Wednesday that it has appointed Curt Hess as chief executive officer on an interim basis.

The company said in an announcement yesterday (June 24) that, as the newly installed leader of Barclays’ payments business here in the United States, Hess will in turn report to Barclaycard interim CEO Amer Sajed. Sajed has served in the CEO capacity since May. Sajed had previously helmed the U.S. unit as CEO.

The company said in its announcement that Hess has more than a quarter century of experience in the financial services industry, ranging from credit cards to finance to risk control.

His tenure with Barclays has spanned the past eight years. Hess most recently held the position of chief financial officer for personal and corporate banking in London. He had also been the CEO and CFO for Barclays Europe retail and business unit and CFO for the company’s Africa retail and business banking operations. Before joining Barclays, Hess worked in the U.S. at both Citi and Bank of America.

“Barclaycard US is an innovator in the global payments industry, and I am thrilled to be using my breadth of expertise to lead the team as we expand and create new lending and credit card businesses,” said Hess in the statement provided by the company. “I look forward to working closely with Amer [Sajed] and the Barclaycard Executive Committee to continue the strong momentum of the business.”

In recent news surrounding the company at large, the Financial Times reported earlier this week that the company’s investment bank, widely viewed as underperforming in the industry, will be under scrutiny by corporate heads at a private strategy meeting in the near future, and that preparations may be underway to carve the U.K. retail operations and U.S. units into separate entities.

To check out what else is HOT in the world of payments, click here.