Mr. Richard Bialek

Chief Executive Officer , Bialek Group

Member of the Business Services Council

Council Member Biography

Rich Bialek is CEO of BialekGroup, providing corporate development and strategy consulting services, partnership, market and product development, and assistance in raising expansion capital. Clients include: American Express, Capital One, Dun and Bradstreet, Discover, MasterCard, JP Morgan Chase, Providian, Sears, Texas Pacific Group (TPG), and Visa. Prior to BialekGroup, he was CEO of Global Card Solutions, a marketer of prepaid debit cards. Mr. Bialek was also CMO of Nekema, a provider of online small business insurance services, and previously SVP of Emerging Markets and Technology for Visa International. While at Visa he identified and invested in emerging financial technologies, designing and executing global Visa co-branding programs for retail, travel, telecom and technology industries that enabled Visa to gain dominant co-brand share versus MasterCard and American Express. He successfully launched over two dozen programs with a focus on the Asia Pacific and Latin America regions. (This is me - Update Profile)

Employment History

2004 - 2006: Chief Executive Officer, Global Card Solutions, Inc.
2001 - Unspecified: Chief Executive Officer , Bialek Group
1997 - 2001: Chief Marketing Officer, LUMBERMENS MUTUAL CASUALTY COMPANY
1994 - 1997: SVP - Emerging Markets and Technology, VISA INTERNATIONAL SERVICE ASSOCIATION
1991 - 1994: General Manager-Credit Card Services, AMERITECH XX, INC.
1988 - 1991: Vice Chairman - Monogram Bank, GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL SERVICES, INC.
1982 - 1988: Director Credit, THE NEIMAN-MARCUS GROUP INC

GLG News^SM Analyses by Richard Bialek(?)

Opinions and analyses expressed in GLG News are solely those of the author. See the Terms of Use for details.

TALF - Implications for Credit Card Issuers

March 12, 2009

Analysis of:Press Release: The Federal Reserve Board Announces the Creation of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF) | www.federalreserve.gov

This program will be a benefit for the large credit card issuers: JP Morgan Chase, Citicorp, Bank of America, American Express, Discover and Capitol One, all of whom can position themselves as a high quality, AAA rated, source of new loans. TALF could prove to be especially helpful to American Express, Discover and Capital One, credit card issuers who lack the branch network and deposit base of the big money center banks. TALF could open up a funding source by reviving the credit card securitization market.

MasterCard Clouds on the Horizon?

June 4, 2008

Analysis of:MasterCard "buy," target price raised | www.newratings.com

The near-term prospects for MasterCard are positive, despite a weak US economy. MasterCard is riding a trend of payment transactions moving from cash and check to card and electronic media. The challenge to MasterCard comes from potentially disruptive regulatory and technology forces that MasterCard must acknowledge and address.

Credit Card Deal on Target for JP Morgan and Target

May 12, 2008

Analysis of:Target in credit card deal with JPMorgan | www.ft.com

The credit card deal announced between Target and JP Morgan makes sense for both parties. It allows Target to address shareholder concerns regarding its card business and mitigate potential growing credit losses. It enables JP Morgan to further develop its private label retail card strategy by taking a substantial interest in the Target portfolio, while placing limits on its loss exposure. There is protection for both parties as well as options to further extend the relationship.

Discover Goes Global With Diners Club Acquisition – A Positive Step

April 14, 2008

Analysis of:Diners Club assets sold to US card issuer | www.businesstravelworld.com

The Discover Card acquisition of Diners Club International is a positive step, addressing one of Discover's competitive weaknesses, the lack of a strong global merchant acceptance network. But it is only one component of the comprehensive solution needed to address Discover’s competitive weakness versus Visa, MasterCard and American Express.

Litigation Issues Cloud Visa IPO

September 17, 2007

Analysis of:Visa, preparing for IPO, wins OK from SEC | www.reuters.com

The Visa IPO is a noteworthy transaction that has the potential to reshape the payments industry. It offers Visa and its members the opportunity to unlock billions of dollars in value from the business they have built. But, the potential return could be materially reduced by pending litigation.

View All GLG News ^SM Analyses by Richard Bialek