On January 9th, Global Payments completed its acquisition of Worldpay in a three-way deal with Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) and private equity firm GTCR. As part of the deal, Global Payments divested its Issuer Solutions business to FIS.
The transaction sharpens Global Payments' strategic focus, converting it into a pure play merchant solutions business. It now serves more than 6 million merchant locations processing approximately 94 billion transactions and $3.7 trillion in payment volume across more than 175 countries. Global Payments has announced that it plans to go to market through three channels: Enterprise, SMB, and Integrated & Platforms.
At the time the acquisition was announced, Global Payments said it expected to realize cost synergies of $600 million and revenue synergies of at least $200 million from cross-selling opportunities. The company says it will invest over $1 billion annually to drive innovation.
Verisave's Take
In the last few years consolidation in the payment system has been an ongoing trend, not just via mergers and acquisitions but also in the form of SaaS companies adding payment integrations which are only compatible with a specific processor. Global Payment's acquisition of Worldpay is particularly noteworthy as it has brought together two of the largest processors, creating a new player with even bigger scale and reach.
Consolidation of the payment system is expected to continue through 2026, and the ultimate impact on merchants remains uncertain. On one hand, the trend may benefit merchants as larger payment providers will have more resources to devote to innovation, but on the other hand reduced competition for merchants' business can lead to higher fees. Verisave will continue to monitor and report on the impact of payment system consolidation.
