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.