Joseph W. Saunders

Joseph W. Saunders was named chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. in May 2007 after having been designated executive chairman in February 2007. Prior to this role, he served Visa International as executive chairman of the transition governance committee and officially began serving as chairman and chief executive officer of Visa Inc. upon its formation in May 2007. Prior to joining Visa International, he served as president of card services for Washington Mutual, Inc. since the acquisition of Providian Financial Corporation in October 2005. Saunders was president and chief executive officer of Providian from November 2001, and chairman of the board of directors from May 2002, until Washington Mutual’s acquisition of Providian in 2005. From 1997 until 2001, Saunders served as chairman and chief executive officer of Fleet Credit Card Services at FleetBoston Financial Corporation. Saunders served as a member of the board of directors of Visa USA from October 2002 to February 2007 and Visa International from October 2005 to February 2007, when he resigned from the boards of directors of Visa USA and Visa International to take the executive chairman position of the Visa transition governance committee. From 1993 to 1997, while Saunders was at Household Finance Corporation, he served as a member of the boards of directors of MasterCard International Inc. and MasterCard USA, and was elected chairman of MasterCard International’s board of directors in 1996. He holds a B.S. in business administration and an MBA, both from the University of Denver.