Democratic Senators Raise Concerns About Former Fiserv CEO
Did Trump favorite Frank Bisignano, who runs IRS and Social Security, mislead investors?
Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano speaks at Fiserv headquarters opening. Photo taken March 4, 2024 by Jeramey Jannene.
Two Democratic U.S. senators are demanding answers about a Trump appointee’s history at the helm of a Milwaukee-based financial technology company.
U.S. Sens. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Ron Wyden of Oregon sent a letter last week to Fiserv’s current Chief Executive Officer Mike Lyons, asking questions about the company’s former CEO Frank Bisignano.
Bisignano is now overseeing the Social Security Administration in addition to a leadership role with the Internal Revenue Service.
The letter includes a list of questions about Bisignano’s time leading Fiserv, a payment-processing company that’s headquartered in Wisconsin. Bisignano was Fiserv’s CEO until he resigned in May, after being confirmed by the Senate as SSA commissioner. That vote fell along party lines, with all Democrats voting in opposition.
Bisignano was later tapped for a newly created position as chief executive officer at the IRS.
Last week’s letter sent by the ranking Democratic members of the Senate banking and finance committees says recent “financial setbacks” call Bisignano’s management “into question.”
The letter notes that Fiserv’s stock price dropped by nearly half at the end of October, after falling short of targets set under Bisignano’s leadership.
“This drastic reversal raises significant questions regarding Mr. Bisignano’s conduct,” the letter signed by Warren and Wyden states.
“At minimum, Mr. Bisignano appears to have failed to manage Fiserv effectively, and may have misled investors and the public about the company’s financial status, raising concerns about his ability to serve as a key Social Security and IRS official in the Trump Administration,” the letter continues. “Because of Mr. Bisignano’s mismanagement, many Fiserv investors, including retirees and members of the public, lost money — a fate Mr. Bisignano avoided.”
Following the latest earnings report, Lyons, the new CEO, announced Fiserv was replacing its chief financial officer and other company leaders.
“Over the last few years, decisions to defer certain investments and cut certain costs improve margins in the short term, but are now limiting our ability to serve clients in a world-class way,” Lyons said during an earnings call last month.
Bisignano and his wife sold off a total of $558 million in Fiserv stock in May, June and July, before those stock prices dropped, the Wall Street Journal reported. Under his ethics agreement, Bisignano was legally required to sell off his Fiserv holdings with 120 days of his May 6 confirmation.
The letter also references a class-action lawsuit filed at the end of July in U.S. District in New York. That suit claims Fiserv misled investors between July 2024 and July 2025 by artificially inflating growth numbers. Bisignano is among the current and former Fiserv executives who are named as defendants in that suit.
Bisignano became Fiserv’s CEO in 2020 after previously serving as president and chief operating officer.
Representatives of Fiserv, the SSA and the IRS did not immediately respond to requests for comment.”
Democratic senators raise concerns about Trump appointee’s time leading Fiserv was originally published by Wisconsin Public Radio.
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