First Data Corporation

What First Data Corporation does

First Data Corporation, founded in 1971 and headquartered in Atlanta, provides electronic commerce and payment processing solutions for merchants, financial institutions, and card issuers. Since being acquired by Fiserv in 2019 in a transaction valued at approximately $22 billion, First Data has operated as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Fiserv, Inc., and its merchant services business is now operated under the Fiserv Merchant Services brand and legal entity First Data Merchant Services LLC.

First Data's product portfolio is anchored by two platform brands: Carat, a global omnichannel commerce platform that orchestrates payments, global acquiring, and unified commerce for large enterprises (with named deployments at Microsoft, Fanatics, and American Airlines Arena); and Clover, an all-in-one point-of-sale system for small and mid-sized merchants available in hardware variants including Clover Mini, Clover Station Duo, Clover Flex, and Clover Go. The technology stack supports card-present and card-not-present processing, P2PE encryption, EMV/NFC contactless acceptance, mobile SDKs for iOS and Android, and integrations with Google Pay, Amazon Alexa for voice commerce, and over 400 third-party applications. Strategic partnerships span Microsoft and Fanatics at the flagship tier and banking infrastructure providers (Wells Fargo, Deutsche Bank, PNC, Pathward, Citizens, KeyBank) acting as registered ISOs.

The business model combines transaction-fee-based payment processing revenue (the core stream), Clover hardware sales, and recurring revenue from the ISV Partner Program and SaaS integrations. Distribution is multi-channel: direct enterprise field sales for Carat, layered partner programs (ISV, RSA, CFI, ISO, Agent), and self-serve e-commerce through clover.com for small businesses. As of 2025, the Clover network has expanded to approximately 3.5 million merchant locations across 11 countries, with the Clover platform targeting $3.5 billion in 2025 revenue (29% growth) and 20% organic revenue growth.

Name

First Data Corporation

Legal name

First Data Merchant Services LLC

Website

https://firstdata.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1989

Operating status

Acquired

Headcount range

5,001–10,000 employees

Short description

First Data Corporation, a wholly-owned Fiserv subsidiary, provides electronic payment processing and merchant services to merchants, financial institutions, and card issuers globally through the Carat enterprise commerce platform and the Clover small-business POS system, serving approximately 3.5 million merchant locations across 11 countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Payment Processing Services

NAICS

Computing Infrastructure Providers, Data Processing, Web Hosting, and Related Services (51821)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming, Data Processing, Etc. (7370), Services-Computer Processing & Data Preparation (7374)

akta.pro primary industry

Card Issuing & Program Management Platforms (BPAMAFAH)

Keywords

• Payment processing services
• Merchant acquiring solutions
• Electronic commerce platforms
• Point-of-sale systems
• Card payment processing

Headquarters

HQ city

Atlanta

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Technology or R&D, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Payment Processing Services: Transaction-based payment processing fees for card-present and card-not-present transactions, serving as the core revenue stream
2. POS Hardware Sales: Sale of Clover POS hardware devices including Clover Mini, Station Duo, Flex, and Go
3. ISV Integration and Monetization: Revenue sharing and monetization opportunities for software providers integrating payment acceptance through Fiserv ISV partner program

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels8 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

First Data Corporation provides electronic commerce and payment processing solutions for merchants, financial institutions, and card issuers. Its product portfolio centers on the Carat omnichannel commerce platform for large enterprises and the Clover all-in-one point-of-sale system family (Clover Mini, Clover Station Duo, Clover Flex, Clover Go) for small businesses, complemented by the ISV Partner Program that enables software providers to embed payment acceptance into their applications.

Product overview

First Data Corporation, now part of Fiserv, offers a platform-plus-modules product architecture centered on payment processing and merchant services. The core offerings include Carat (a global omnichannel commerce platform for large enterprises) and Clover (an all-in-one POS system for small businesses). The product portfolio spans multiple tiers: Carat serves large businesses with unified commerce and payment optimization; the Clover family includes Clover Mini, Clover Station Duo, Clover Flex, and Clover Go devices for various merchant sizes; mid-market solutions address medium-sized business needs; and the ISV Partner Program enables software providers to integrate payment acceptance into their applications. The portfolio is unified through shared infrastructure, payment processing capabilities (credit/debit cards, mobile pay, gift cards, contactless), and common integrations with Google Pay, Amazon Alexa, and 400+ third-party apps.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Clover: All-in-one point-of-sale (POS) solution for small businesses to accept payments and manage their business operations including reporting, inventory, invoicing, and e-commerce.
• Carat
• CardConnect

Products and services

• Carat Global Commerce Platform Omnichannel commerce ecosystem that unifies payments and commerce experiences for large enterprise merchants, providing a single entry point to Fiserv with global payment optimization, card-present and card-not-present processing, and integrations with Google Pay and Amazon Alexa.
• Clover POS All-in-one point-of-sale solution for small businesses to accept payments and manage operations including reporting, inventory, invoicing, e-commerce, gift cards and loyalty programs, with integrations to 400+ third-party apps.
• Clover Mini

Quantifiable outcome

• Clover platform on pace for $3.5 billion revenue goal in 2025, representing 29% growth from 2024
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

Yes

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and flagship.

• Google PaycoreTechnology or IntegrationInnovation partnership with Google Pay enabling touchless payment experiences. Fiserv Carat platform integrates with Google Pay to bridge digital and physical commerce experiences.
• Amazon AlexacoreTechnology or IntegrationVoice commerce partnership enabling voice-powered payments through Amazon Alexa. Alexa Pay gas payment solution went live nationwide.
• MicrosoftflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor enterprise customer and strategic partner. Carat delivered payment optimization and global acquiring efficiencies for Microsoft. Case study documents significant operational improvements.
• FanaticsflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerLeading sports merchandise retailer. Carat helped Fanatics roll out cost-saving and customer-pleasing efficiencies across their commerce operations.
• CCVcoreOEM/ Whitelabel/ Licensing PartnerNetherlands-based payment technology provider acquired in late March to support European distribution of Clover POS solutions.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• PayPal: PayPal is a broad incumbent in digital payments with Braintree for enterprise processing and Venmo/Zettle for SMB. It overlaps with First Data's merchant acquiring and POS offerings but serves a much wider portfolio (consumer wallets, checkout, credit).
• Fiserv: Fiserv is First Data's parent and a broad incumbent in financial services technology serving banks and merchants. Beyond corporate parentage, Fiserv's broader merchant solutions segment competes with and overlaps virtually all of First Data's offerings.

Direct peers

• Adyen: Adyen is a global, unified payment processing platform targeting large enterprise merchants with a single API and acquiring licenses across regions. It is the most direct competitor to First Data's Carat omnichannel commerce platform for the world's largest merchants.
• Stripe: Stripe is a leading global payment processor and acquiring platform serving online and omnichannel merchants with developer-first APIs. It directly competes with First Data's Carat and Clover e-commerce capabilities and is increasingly competing for mid-market and enterprise volume.
• Checkout.com: Checkout.com is a global, enterprise-focused payment processor with direct acquiring licenses. It is a direct rival to First Data's Carat for large omnichannel merchants, particularly in digital-first and cross-border commerce.
• Worldpay (FIS): Worldpay, now part of FIS, is one of the largest global merchant acquirers. It directly competes with First Data across enterprise, mid-market, and SMB acquiring, with comparable scale, partner bank relationships, and omnichannel capabilities.
• Global Payments: Global Payments is a major merchant acquiring and payment processing company serving merchants and financial institutions worldwide. It competes directly with First Data in card-present acquiring, integrated POS, and issuer services.
• Block (Square): Block's Square ecosystem provides payment processing, POS hardware, and software for small and mid-sized merchants — directly comparable to First Data's Clover suite — while also serving enterprise through Square Banking and Afterpay.

Emerging players

• Toast: Toast is a restaurant-vertical POS and payments platform built as integrated software-plus-processing. It competes with Clover in SMB POS, particularly in restaurants, and represents the software-native model increasingly taking share from traditional acquirers.
• Lightspeed Commerce: Lightspeed provides cloud-based POS, commerce, and integrated payments for retail and restaurant SMBs. It is an emerging competitor to Clover in unified SMB commerce software-plus-payments.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/FirstData
• Facebookfacebook.com/FirstData
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/first-data-corporation

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors2 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A29 records

Investments15 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about First Data Corporation