Today In Data: Big Shifts, Long Holdouts And The March Of Progress

Today in Data: The March of Retail Progress

The big news of the week, of course, is the announcement that Fiserv will be buying First Data Corp. in an all-stock deal slated to close in the second half of the year. Sometimes big shifts happen suddenly and hit the headlines. Other changes – finally killing the check once and for all, particularly in B2B transactions – is the slow work of years. Still other changes are quick but nearly invisible, like the rise of mobile card services.

Data:

$22 billion: What Fiserv is paying to purchase First Data.

85.6 percent: MCS users who purchase groceries with the MCS-linked cards.

51 percent: Share of B2B payments made by check.

34 percent: Share of card users using MCS to set spending limits at certain stores.

6 percent: Share of accountants who aren’t settling client bills via digital payments.