Frank Bisignano has been called a turnaround specialist, but he prefers to think of himself as a builder, focused on improving organizations and delivering value to clients.
During a nearly 40-year career in the financial services industry, Bisignano helped improve operations at big names such as Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase, providing critical leadership during turbulent times, including the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks and the 2008 mortgage crisis.
Later, he helped steer the merger of First Data and Fiserv, creating the world’s largest payment processing and financial technology company.
In 2025, Bisignano brought that managerial and leadership expertise to the Trump administration.
President Donald Trump described Bisignano as “a business leader with a tremendous track record of transforming large corporations” when announcing his nomination as commissioner of the Social Security Administration.
Trump later asked Bisignano to also serve as CEO of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), a new role created to manage the agency’s daily operations.
Bisignano is the grandson of immigrants from Southern Italy. He grew up in a working-class family in Brooklyn, New York, where he learned the value of hard work from a young age.
“My dad was an orphan, one of 15 children,” Bisignano said in an interview with The Epoch Times.
His father served in World War II and later spent 46 years in customs enforcement, which was then part of the Treasury Department. He received the Albert Gallatin Award, the Treasury’s highest career service honor.
“I like to say I was the beneficiary of my dad being an orphan, because he was so focused on how to make things better for other people, how to care for other people,” Bisignano said.
Wall Street and 9/11
Bisignano began his career on Wall Street in the late 1970s, starting with a summer internship at Bear Stearns. At age 25, he became the youngest senior vice president at American Express.
He later served in multiple leadership positions at Citigroup, including chief administrative officer. At the time, Citigroup was the largest tenant in 7 World Trade Center—also known as Building 7—occupying 39 floors in Lower Manhattan.
On Sept. 11, 2001, the building collapsed during the infamous terror attack.
Bisignano, as the chief administrative officer responsible for technology and operations at Citigroup, played a key role in managing the crisis. He led the relocation of more than 16,000 displaced Citigroup employees.
In 2005, Bisignano joined JPMorgan Chase as chief administrative officer, overseeing operations, technology, and real estate under Jamie Dimon’s leadership.
He later became CEO of the mortgage banking unit, where he helped the bank recover after the 2008 financial crisis. In 2011, he led negotiations for the nation’s five largest mortgage servicers in a $25 billion housing settlement to address mortgage and foreclosure issues, a role that helped reset the housing market.
A Turnaround Story
Bisignano became CEO of First Data at a time when the company faced slow growth and heavy debt. The company mainly processed payments and operated much like a utility.
Under his leadership, First Data evolved into a broader technology and solutions company. Within two years, it returned to profitability. In 2015, he led its $2.56 billion initial public offering, the largest U.S. IPO that year.
Bisignano played a key role in the merger and integration of First Data into Fiserv. Completed in 2019, this merger expanded Fiserv’s scale and product reach, creating the world’s largest financial services and payment technology company.
Social Security and IRS
At his nomination hearing, Bisignano promised to bring to these agencies the same strategy that he has used throughout his career.
At the IRS, he inherited a department plagued by customer service complaints. During the prior tax season, the inspector general reported hundreds of taxpayer complaints citing dropped or disconnected calls, long wait times, and discourteous service.
“We’ve implemented dramatic change, and we are issuing bigger refunds, servicing the clients faster, with refunds getting out faster,” Bisignano said.
The Social Security Administration rolled out a new phone system in 70 percent of field offices and made changes to the 800 number system that allow 90 percent of calls to be handled through automated options or agency callbacks.
“We’re getting fewer phone calls this year than last year because of the online capabilities that we built,” Bisignano said.
Telephone answering times for Social Security have been cut in half compared with the previous year, and the average wait for visitors at field offices is about 30 percent shorter.
“I want transformational change that is here for generations,” Bisignano said. “And to do it in a manner that the people that are in the agency grow and learn from.
—Emel Akan, Lawrence Wilson, Jan Jekielek, Stacy Robinson
BOOKMARKS
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An appeals court in Washington has halted U.S. District Judge James Boasberg’s contempt inquiry against the Trump administration. Boasberg launched the proceedings last year after alleging the government deported suspected gang members in violation of his court order.
Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says Trump is crafting an executive order requiring banks to collect citizenship information from customers. “And I don’t think it’s unreasonable, because, why don’t we have information on who’s in our banking system?” Bessent said.
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—Stacy Robinson
