Global Payments taps insider, former BofA exec, as next CFO

Dive Brief:

Global Payments has named Josh J. Whipple, currently the company’s senior executive vice president and chief strategy and enterprise risk officer, as its new chief financial officer, effective July 1, the Atlanta payments processor announced Thursday.
Whipple will succeed Paul M. Todd, who will be retiring at the end of the month after 27 years at the company and its predecessors, most recently as TSYS’ and Global Payments’ CFO. He will act as a senior advisor through the third quarter to ensure a smooth transition, the company said.
CEO Jeff Sloan in a statement described Whipple as a “seasoned” and “senior leader” who helped “guide us through some of the most significant milestones in our history. He is a trusted partner who has played a key role in building the leading technology enabled, software-driven payments business worldwide that Global Payments is today.”

Dive Insight:

The large payments player has a history of leaning on acquisitions to scale up. In 2019 it acquired Total System Services in a $21.5 billion deal and last year it embarked on a new acquisition spree with the $500 million purchase of payments software company MineralTree.

But more recently the company has seemed more interested in buying back its own stock and less interested in acquisitions, according to a February 11 Payments Dive report. The company’s management has indicated that they hope to return to M&A as “valuations reset and come more in line with the public markets,” according to a Thursday Baird Equity Research report on the C-suite news, which noted that Whipple has “significant M&A experience.”

Josh J. Whipple

Courtesy of Global Payments

Whipple, 49, joined Global Payments in 2015 after more than a decade in investment banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Bear Stearns, according to an SEC filing and his bio on the company’s website. The CFO change came after Todd notified Global Payments on May 31 of his decision to retire.

During the transition period, the company’s compensation committee plans to review and adjust Whipple’s employment agreement “as appropriate considering his new position,” according to the filing.

A company spokesperson declined to make Whipple available for comment.