Dive Brief:

• Payments processor Fidelity National Information Services on Friday appointed Erik Hoag — who stepped down from its CFO seat last year — as its chief integration officer, stating he will stay on through June of next year to manage the separation of Worldpay, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.

• In August, Jacksonville, Florida-based FIS named James Kehoe — the former finance chief of Deerfield, Illinois-based Walgreens Boots Alliance — to succeed Hoag as the payment giant’s finance chief. At the time, the company said Hoag would only stay with FIS through the end of the year to support an “orderly transition.” 

• News of Hoag’s appointment came just ahead of the company’s earnings report Monday and follows FIS’ sale of a 55% stake in its Worldpay merchant solutions business to private equity firm GTCR. Earlier this month, FIS said it retained a 45% non-controlling equity stake in Worldpay and received net cash proceeds of more than $12 billion in the transaction.

Dive Insight:

Hoag is a veteran FIS executive who has worked his way up the company’s finance ladder since joining the company in 2008 from HSBC, where he was a senior vice president of finance operations, according to his LinkedIn account.   

On Feb. 19, Hoag reached an agreement with the company under which he will remain as an employee for over a year. During that time, he will be responsible for managing the company’s relationship with the Worldpay business, from Jan. 1 through June 30 of 2025, unless he notifies the company of his intent to “terminate” in a 10-day window before Dec. 31, according to the SEC filing. 

His services during the “transition service period” will include building on FIS’ strategic partnership with Worldpay and GTCR, enabling operational separation, and pursuing incremental commercial opportunities across both organizations, according to the filing.

Hoag will be paid an annual salary of $600,000 and be eligible for a performance-based annual cash incentive with a target equal to 125% of his base salary, according to the SEC filing. Hoag’s salary in his new role is in line with the $600,000 included in his fiscal 2023 target compensation outlined in the company’s 2023 proxy statement filed April 14, 2023. 

However, Hoag’s salary is below that of his successor Kehoe, who was set to receive an annual base salary of $975,000 and a target annual incentive bonus opportunity of 150% of his base salary, according to an Aug. 21 SEC filing.

On Monday the company reported total net (GAAP) earnings of $251 million, including discontinued operations, for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to a net loss of $17.3 billion in the year-earlier period.

A FIS spokesperson declined to comment beyond the public filing on Hoag's new appointment.