• by Steve McClellan  @mp_mcclellan, August 24, 2015

Financial services giant Visa has selected Publicis Groupe’s Starcom as its new global media agency after a review that began in April, the company has confirmed.

The company spends an estimated $200 million annually on ads -- with more than half of it in the U.S.

The incumbent is Omnicom’s OMD, which also participated in the review. OMD won the last Visa global media review back in 2008.

Visa is one of two big financial companies that Publicis Groupe or one of its agencies has pitched in recent months. The other is Citi, whose review is ongoing. In that $450 million review, Publicis Groupe has proposed a holding company solution. Also participating is MEC, which handles the U.S. 

Citi has indicated that it does not want an agency that also handles a credit card company outside of MasterCard. By offering a holding company solution, Publicis Groupe intends to avoid a potential conflict. 

Starcom, OMD and Visa reps had not responded to queries at the time this story was initially posted. But a Visa spokesperson did confirm Starcom's appointment Tuesday.

The spokesperson said, "We just concluded our review and have awarded Starcom the position of global media agency of record supported by SocialCode for digital in North America.  In addition, we awarded Essence the complementary position to support our programmatic efforts on a project and regional basis.”

This story has been updated to include client confirmation of Starcom's appointment and additional input from Visa.