Pam Joseph resigns as TSYS president, CEO Woods commits through at least 2020

Less than 17 months after taking the job as president and chief operating officer of credit-card and payment processor TSYS, Pamela Joseph has submitted her resignation both for the executive management position and as a member of the firm’s board of directors.

The sudden resignation, effective Sept. 30, was announced in a press release late Friday afternoon by Columbus-based TSYS, which has about 11,500 employees worldwide, nearly 5,000 of those here in Columbus.

“We would like to thank Pam for her service and contributions during her tenure,” TSYS Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Troy Woods said in a statement. “We wish her the very best in her future endeavors.”

The company said that Woods will once again take on the additional title of president just as he had before Joseph’s arrival at the processing firm on May 1, 2016. The company also said that Woods, 66, has “committed” to remain as CEO of TSYS at least through the end of 2020, or more than three additional years. He took the top job in 2014.

TSYS spokesman Cyle Mims said he could not comment beyond what was in the release, other than to say her departure “was a mutual decision” between her and the company. Mims said Joseph would not be available for comment. Throughout her time as president and chief operating officer, she has been living in Atlanta and commuting to the company’s headquarters in Columbus.

Joseph, 58, came to TSYS last year after retiring in 2015 from Minneapolis-based U.S. Bancorp, where she had served as that firm’s president and chief operating officer. She also had previously been chairman and CEO of Atlanta-based Elavon, a card-processing subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, while also spending time with Visa International and Wells Fargo Bank.

Prior to arriving at TSYS last spring, Joseph said in a Ledger-Enqurirer interview that she had known of TSYS and its top management, including Woods and now-retired Chairman and CEO Phil Tomlinson, for more than two decades.

“It’s a great culture, a very trusted and ethical company and I’m very excited about having the opportunity to join them,” she said, mentioning that giving up a nearly year-long retirement to join TSYS “was just an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up.”

During Joseph’s brief tenure as second-in-command at TSYS behind Woods, the company has been restructuring its overall operations, which has included employee departures, cost-saving efforts in various areas of the company, and the closing of TSYS offices in Boise, Idaho, and Golden, Colo. The firm also moved earlier this year to open a card-services facility in Columbus, Ohio, with it yet to open, but expected to create as many as 145 jobs there.

At the same time, TSYS stock has climbed steadily with the overall market, with shares rising over the past year from $46 to more than $70 apiece recently.

This story was originally published September 22, 2017 at 6:02 PM with the headline "Pam Joseph resigns as TSYS president, CEO Woods commits through at least 2020."