Philip Konopik Appointed As Visa Europe Ireland Country Manager

Visa Europe has appointed Philip Konopik as Ireland Country Manager. Konopik will have overall responsibility for Visa’s operations in Ireland, driving growth and development in a key market for Visa Europe.

As the leading payments system in Ireland, €1 in every €3 of Irish consumer spending in Ireland is now on a Visa card – Debit, Credit or Prepaid. Cardholder expenditure on Visa cards in Ireland has more than doubled from €13 billion in 2010 to over €28 billion in 2014 since the introduction of Visa Debit and contactless payments as consumers opted for the security and convenience of electronic payments.

Commenting on the appointment, Kevin Jenkins, Managing Director of UK and Ireland at Visa Europe, said: “Philip brings a wealth of experience to the position and I am looking forward to working with him as he leads our further expansion into Ireland. Visa has a very strong base in Ireland and we are excited by the opportunities for future growth with electronic payments going from strength to strength.”

Philip Konopik, said: “I’m delighted to be joining Visa Europe at an exciting time for the payments space as consumers shift from cash and cheques to electronic payments. I look forward to building on this momentum and pioneering new payment technology in Ireland.”

Konopik joins from London based growth and innovation consultancy Market Gravity, where he was part of the leadership team. Over the past five years, he has helped Market Gravity grow from a team of 10 to over 70 employees across London, Scotland and New York, and in the process working with leading challenger and high-street banks, as well as the payment industry across the UK and Ireland. Most recently Konopik led Market Gravity's expansion to the Irish market.

He has a strong history of relationship management and business development, having advised and developed new propositions across the Financial Services industry, including new current account & SME banking propositions, contactless strategies, consumer credit propositions, and direct savings & investments.

Prior to joining Market Gravity, Konopik was a Senior Consultant at Capgemini Consulting in the Digital Transformation team in the UK. He also previously worked with Capgemini in the Marketing Sales & Service team in Sweden, where he had the opportunity to lead both digital transformation and commercial analysis work with major private and public sector clients in local markets. Konopik takes over from Conor Langford who has been promoted within the Visa organisation.