Lockhart Named President of MasterCard International

MasterCard International on Monday named Eugene Lockhart, a banking consultant who once ran a major credit card operation in Britain, its new president and chief executive.

The appointment came a week after the unexpected announcement that Alex W. (Pete) Hart, was leaving to run Advanta Corp., a major credit card issuer based in Horsham, Pa.

Lockhart, 43, has been executive vice president of First Manhattan Consulting Group since 1992 and prior to that spent six years at Midland Bank PLC in London, where he served as chief executive of U.K. banking and group operations. At Midland, Lockhart oversaw domestic banking, which included 3 million credit cards and 1 1/2 million debit cards in circulation.

Lockhart also has been an executive at Marsh & McLennan Companies, a major commercial insurer, and the accounting firm Arthur Andersen.

Hart was widely respected throughout the credit card industry for reinvigorating MasterCard.

Lockhart served as chairman of the London Clearing House for Automatic Payments, which handles electronic payments.

He also served on a recent MasterCard task force concerning the future of debit cards, which allow consumers to deduct money from checking accounts instead of credit lines.

Lockhart’s appointment will be effective March 23.

MasterCard, an association for banks that issue cards under the brand name, was accepted in more than 10.6 million locations and generated more than $258 billion in transactions worldwide in 1992, the most recent figures available. Visa International had $458 billion in charge volume in 1992.