Fiserv CEO faces fire for Social Security cuts

Fiserv CEO Frank Bisignano faces calls from two prominent Democrats to fight changes to the Social Security Administration and divest his company holdings ahead of a hearing on his nomination to lead the agency.

Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Oregon Sen. Ron Wyden want Bisignano, who was nominated to serve as Social Security Commissioner by President Donald Trump on Dec. 4, to divest from Milwaukee-based Fiserv if he is confirmed, oppose cuts to Social Security benefits, reverse any layoffs at the agency, and avoid any changes that would make it more difficult for Social Security recipients to access their benefits.

They laid out their concerns in a letter Sunday to Bisignano posted on their websites.

Recent changes at the SSA, including a move to require more recipients to visit Social Security offices in person to finalize claims or enroll in benefits, put those benefits at risk, the senators wrote.

“These new developments leave us deeply concerned that DOGE and the Trump Administration are setting up the SSA for failure,” the letter reads, referring to the acronym for the Department of Government Efficiency, which is headed by Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk and is leading efforts to shrink the federal government.

About 73 million Americans who are 62 or older receive Social Security payments.

Bisignano, who became CEO of the giant Milwaukee-based processor in 2020, is scheduled to appear before the Senate Finance Committee Tuesday at 10 a.m. EST to answer questions about his nomination.

The senators’ letter alleges that Fiserv stands to gain from the privatization of Social Security.

“Already, financial services firms are salivating at the possibility of profiting off of Americans’ hard-earned retirement benefits,” the letter says. “Even your own payment firm, Fiserv — which ‘enables money movement for thousands of financial institutions and millions of people’ — could theoretically benefit from a privatization of Social Security.”

The letter cites a March 17 Forbes article featuring comments from BlackRock CEO Larry Fink about letting Americans put Social Security benefits into private retirement accounts.

Bisignano owned 3,260,608 shares of common stock in Fiserv as of March 1, 2024, according to the company’s 2024 proxy statement. The payments firm has not yet released its 2025 proxy statement. A spokesperson for Fiserv did not respond to a request for comment.

Wyden and Warren’s letter also says that at least one of Musk’s friends has “infiltrated” the Social Security Administration, referring to a March 14 New York Times article about private equity investor Antonio Gracias, who sits on the boards of Tesla and SpaceX, taking a leading role at the agency. Gracias is the founder and CEO of Chicago-based investment firm Valor Equity Partners.

Musk called Social Security “the biggest Ponzi scheme of all time” in a February appearance on Joe Rogan’s podcast, although Trump has pledged not to reduce Social Security benefits.

Last week, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order barring DOGE from accessing personally identifiable information from the SSA. Amid the court activity, the administration’s acting commissioner, Leland Dudek, briefly threatened to shut down the agency before walking back those comments in a statement to news outlets on Monday.

A spokesperspon for Musk did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how the DOGE efforts may affect Social Security.

The Social Security Administration announced in February that it would reduce staff by about 7,000 employees to around 50,000 and close regional offices. Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick made waves on Friday when he implied that some Americans might not mind missing a Social Security payment.

“Let’s say Social Security didn’t send out their checks this month. My mother-in-law, who's 94, she wouldn’t call and complain,” Lutnick told the All-In podcast last week hosted by investors Chamath Palihapitiya and David Friedberg

“The Secretary is committed to protecting Social Security for all eligible Americans,” a Commerce Department spokesperson told Axios in response to Lutnick’s comments.

Former PNC Financial Services Group President Michael Lyons will take over for Bisignano after the current Fiserv CEO departs. The company said in a Jan. 23 news release that Bisignano will stay with Fiserv until June 30 unless he is confirmed by the Senate sooner.