Dive Brief:

• Compensation for Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano, who is also the payment processor’s chairman and president, climbed 57% last year to $27.94 million, according to a proxy filing by the Milwaukee-based company last week.
• The pay bump for Bisignano last year was largely driven by a 43% boost in stock awards, which were valued at $23.3 million, according to the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 3.
• The increase over 2022 was also tied to a $3 million cash bonus delivered under a company incentive plan, the proxy filing said. His annual salary also climbed 6% to $1.4 million.

Dive Insight:

Fiserv provides payments processing and financial technology services to retailers and other merchants as well as banks. Bisignano has been CEO of the company since 2020 and chairman of the company’s board of directors since 2022.

In describing its compensation approach, the company said this in the proxy: “Our talent and compensation committee seeks to structure compensation that incentivizes our leaders to strive for market-leading performance, which we expect will translate into long-term value for our shareholders and is balanced by the risk of lower performance-based compensation when we do not meet our performance objectives.”

Last year, Fiserv’s net income rose 21% over 2022 to $3.07 billion, on an 8% increase in annual revenue to $15.63 billion, according to the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release. The company’s stock rose about 30% over the course of the year.

In determining pay and incentives for Fiserv executives, the company’s board compensation committee takes into consideration what other rival companies are paying their top executives. Specifically, Fiserv weighs compensation at Visa, PayPal, Block and Fidelity National Information Services, among others.

Under his contract, Bisignano also has access to use of Fiserv’s aircraft for personal travel, company car and driver, and financial planning, according to the proxy. 

The company’s annual shareholders’ meeting, at which executives will discuss Fiserv’s performance, will take place on May 15. 

A spokesperson for Fiserv didn’t respond to a request for comment on the compensation increase.