(Reuters) -Visa has hired Chris Suh, the finance chief at Electronic Arts and a former executive at Microsoft, as its new CFO, the payments processor said on Tuesday.

Suh is departing the videogame publisher just a year and a half after assuming his role at EA. Prior to that, he was the corporate vice president and CFO of Microsoft's Cloud + AI division.

Suh's appointment comes months after San Francisco-based Visa named Ryan McInerney its new CEO.

The new executive team is taking charge of the company at a critical juncture for the economy, as high interest rates and inflation have led to a stormy environment and left many to fear a mild recession later in the year.

They will also be battling potential discontent in Washington, where some lawmakers are reportedly pushing for a legislation to curb fees Visa and peer Mastercard charge their merchants.

A veteran in the technology space, Suh will succeed longtime finance head Vasant Prabhu at Visa, who earlier this year had announced he would be stepping down in September.

Suh will be the CFO Designate from July 10 until August 1, and will then assume full responsibility, Visa said.

Shares of the company were flat in trading after the bell. They had closed 1.1% lower in the regular trading session.

Stuart Canfield, a 20-year veteran at EA, will take over from Suh as the company's CFO.

So far this year, Visa shares have gained 9% while rival Mastercard's stock has risen 7.7%.

(Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)