PayPal MarComms Reset: Amy Bonitatibus, Geoff Seeley via Diego Scotti

A pair of veteran marketing and communication leaders were brought into PayPal Holdings to help elevate the payments company into the top tier of financial services, befitting its $63 billion market cap. The new hires bring a communications chief from the world of big banks and a marketing veteran from the peer-to-peer cash business from PayPal's direct competitor -- and they will report to an EVP, who until four months ago, was CMO of Verizon, but cut his teeth at American Express.

Why it matters: The new team coalescing at the top comes as PayPal braces for competition from the merchant services world, where it started, to the major credit cards, where it also competes now, as payment technology convergence blurs the lines demarcating sectors for consumers, who use them all interchangeably, while PayPal has expanded acquiring nimbler competitors, including Venmo, a peer-to-peer response to CashApp, and Zettle, originally from Sweden, with its point-of-sale transaction product that competes against the original Square model for swiping cards.

Change began at the top: The MarComm hiring strategy was rolled out with two separate announcements by EVP Diego Scotti, General Manager, Consumer Group & Global Marketing and Communications. Scotti, himself, only joined PayPal four months ago, in December, from the top marketing job at Verizon -- but he does have a financial marketing background, with 15 years at American Express, rising to VP Global Advertising and Brand Management, before applying his skills to the fashion world, as Executive Director, Marketing, for Condé Nast's VOGUE Magazine, then to SVP, Chief Marketing Officer at J. Crew.

Scotti was brought in by PayPal's new President and CEO, Alex Chriss, who arrived at the end of September, after 20 years at Intuit, where he was Executive Vice President and General Manager of Intuit’s Small Business and Self-Employed Group, leading a global organization responsible for delivering QuickBooks and Mailchimp to millions of customers.

Along with Scotti's appointment in November, Chriss named former Intuit colleague Michelle Gill as EVP, General Manager of a newly formed Small Business and Financial Services Group, and appointed Isabel Cruz, former SVP and “people leader” for Walmart’s Global Technology, Services and Corporate Teams, as PayPal's Chief People Officer.

"We are redesigning PayPal with our customers at the center and creating an environment that unleashes our teams to move with speed and build the best possible products and experiences to meet their needs," Chriss said when the first hires were announced

 The newest names:  Amy Bonitatibus was named PayPal's Chief Corporate Affairs and Communications Officer, to lead the global communications team and social impact and sustainability efforts, coming over from Wells Fargo where she was Chief Communications Officer and Head of Integrated Marketing, after a decade in top communication roles at JPMorgan Chase and five years at Fannie Mae.

Geoff Seeley joined PayPal as Chief Marketing Officer from Block Inc., formerly known as Square, which competes head-to-head with PayPal for merchant payment services. Block also operates a peer-to-peer cash business through CashApp, which two years ago acquired AfterPay, a bill splitting app. Seeley came to the CashApp marketing team through that acquisition, leading marketing for four years at Afterpay, as Global Chief Marketing and Communications Officer, then holding the same role at CashApp for the past two years.

Commenting now on these marketing and communications roles, Scotti extolled the high-profile communications challenges conquered by Bonitatibus and Seeley's digital transformation experience: 

“Amy is an exceptional corporate affairs leader with a diversity of experience leading high-performing communications teams and shaping reputation for some of the most well-known brands. She will be a wonderful addition to my leadership team, and we are thrilled she is joining us to help advance our work to revolutionize commerce globally,” Scotti said about her hire.

Amy Bonitatibus, an experienced comms exec from Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Washington, D.C.

Before being named Chief Communications Officer and Head of Integrated Marketing at Wells Fargo, Bonitatibus led JPMorgan Chase in several senior marketing and communications positions. From Vice President, Communications, she was promoted to Head of Communications, Consumer Lending, to Chief Marketing Officer, Home Lending, culminating in Chief Communications Officer, Chase.

Previously, in Washington, D.C., she managed executive communications and media relations at Fannie Mae and led a grassroots media campaign for the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Making Home Affordable (MHA) program. In politics prior to entering the financial world, Bonitatibus was Deputy Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Hillary Clinton for four years.

On Seeley's appointment, in his announcement, Scotti said: "Geoff brings over 25 years of expertise in transforming global consumer and B2B brands by leveraging cutting-edge digital and performance marketing and building strong teams focused on enhancing brand awareness and engagement with customers."

Geoff Seeley, with technology and payments experience from CashApp, BlockPay, Airbnb, Unilever

Seeley also worked for Airbnb's Homes business, with responsibilities across regional brand marketing, product marketing, global media, brand partnerships, marketing analytics, and research, and for Unilever as Global Communications Planning Director, helping their established, legacy brands transform their marketing models and technology and improving the brand experience for customers.  

Seeley began his role upon the announcement, while Bonitibus will start on May 28.