The 10 Largest Credit Card Processing Companies in the World and What They Do

When it comes to credit card processing, there are a lot of companies that offer various services. The credit card processing industry is huge. In North America alone people spend over $3 trillion dollars each year. To boot, that number is expected to grow by 8% yearly.

The biggest companies in the credit card processing industry include recognizable names like J.P. Morgan Chase. But, there also are some rising stars that have made their mark on this massive industry.

There is a lot of variety because not all companies offer the same features and benefits.  The 10 largest ones offer an array of services that cater to both merchants and individuals. They also tend to have a long history or established reputation.

Credit card processing is critical for businesses both big and small. So whether you’re looking for low rates on your transactions or access to a wide variety of payment types, one of these large companies will likely interest you.

 10. Elavon – $1.6 Billion

Elavon has been in business since 1991 and does business globally. Like Global Payments, Elavon has its headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia.  The company has more than 1 million merchant accounts across its global network of partners. 

It provides services like mobile point-of-sale (mPOS), eCommerce integration, and other value-added services through the Elavon Digital Commerce Platform (EDCP). They also offer industry-specific solutions to help businesses with their unique needs.

Their clients include small businesses as well as large corporations such as Staples and Target. It has 2 million customers in over 36 countries, making it one of the largest commercial banks in the United States. The company has an estimated yearly revenue of $1.6 billion.

 9. Global Payments – $8.524 Billion

Global Payments is a global provider of credit card processing services. The company, which was founded in 1997, has annual revenue of $4 billion and over 4,000 employees across the globe. Global Payments, based in Atlanta, is part of the S&P 500 and operates in 32 countries. In the U.S. alone it processes over a billion dollars worth of transactions on behalf of over 650 merchants.

Global Payments operates as an independent sales organization (ISO). It partners with banks and financial institutions to provide credit card processing services. The company offers both traditional and mobile solutions for businesses of all sizes.

8. Intuit – $9.633 Billion

Intuit is a software company that provides financial management software and related services. They have been listed as one of the largest software companies in the world. They had $4 billion in revenue during Q2 of 2017 alone. 

The company has been growing steadily since then. In 2021 they made an annual income of $9.633 Billion. That’s a 25.45% increase from the previous year. In 2021, the company also acquired MailChimp, a popular email platform, so Intuit is expected to grow significantly in the coming years.

Intuit has been making strides toward becoming more than just a software company. They have also acquired businesses like ProPay, an international payment services provider. With that acquisition came the ability to process directly within QuickBooks Online (QBO). Their software services are so well known that PNC and other large banks use them. 

With this addition to their offerings, Intuit will be able to offer clients a complete package — from payments to invoices — all from within one platform.

 7. Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) – $13.877 Billion

Fidelity National Information Services Inc. (FIS) is a global leader in credit and debit card processing. The company was originally founded in 1968 as Systematics and has gone through multiple changes. In 2003 it was acquired by Fidelity National Financial and renamed FIS.

In 2021 it produced an estimated 13.877 billion dollars in revenue, which was a 10.56% increase. It also serves over a million merchants globally and is used in around 130 countries. FIS processes payments for many large retailers, like Starbucks and Walgreens.

The company also provides ATM services to more than 100 countries around the world. The company’s services also include fraud prevention solutions and eCommerce gateway processing.

 6. Fiserv – $16.226 Billion

Fiserv is headquartered in Brookfield, Wisconsin, and was founded in 1984. It has since grown to become one of the largest companies in the credit card processing industry. It is a Fortune 500 company with over 11,000 employees working in 30 countries. 

Fiserv provides payment various processing solutions, including ATM services and custom software development. The company processes 27.2 billion dollars each year for more than 2 million businesses.

In 2019 Fiserv also acquired First Data which Allen Taylor and Thomas McGovern started in 1971. Before being acquired, it was one of the largest credit card processing companies in the world. The company had over 100,000 merchant locations across North America and Europe.

Now that Fiserv has acquired First Data, they further accomplished their goal of offering a wide variety of diverse services. 

5. Block, Inc. – $17.661 Billion

Block was formerly known as Square but the owner, Jack Dorsey, changed the name in December 2021. The company was founded in 2009 and has been headquartered in San Francisco since 2013.

The company has grown significantly over the past few years and is practically synonymous with small business. In fact, it saw an 86% increase in revenue from 2020 to 2021. But that’s not as impressive as the change from 2019 to 2020, when the company’s revenue grew by 101.5%.

While credit card processing is what the company is most known for, they also make a lot of money through cryptocurrency. In the fourth quarter of 2021 alone, the company generated $1.96 billion in revenue from Bitcoin.

Square is likely to continue growing significantly since it acquired Afterpay in January 2022. With the popularity of buy now, pay later services on the rise, this is expected to diversify the company and give it a significant boost.

4. PNC Merchant Services – $19.698 Billion

PNC Merchant Services is part of PNC Financial Services, which is based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. As of September 2022, PNC had around $534.35 billion in assets, making it one of the largest banks in America. In 2021 alone, PNC had an annual income of $19.698 billion.

PNC Bank has a long history because it was founded in 1810 as The Pittsburgh Trust Company. Today, it has over 8,500 locations throughout 15 states as well as Washington D.C., Puerto Rico, and New York City. 

It provides credit card processing and other services to businesses of any size. Since the company has a very diverse range of services, processing is only a small portion of what they do. Retail banking makes the majority of its revenue with corporate banking being a close second.

One of PNC’s most recent innovations is its hybrid banks. The locations, called Solution Centers, launched in 2018 and include ATMs and banking kiosks. There are also private conference rooms and other areas that allow the space to be used in a variety of ways. Currently, there are around 33 hybrid PNC locations.

 3. Wells Fargo – $78.5 billion

Wells Fargo is a U.S.-based financial services company with many global partners.  While the company is recognizable, it doesn’t process as much as many of the other companies on this list. It processes around 9.3 billion dollars each year. They are lower on the list than you might expect because credit card processing currently isn’t as important for them as it is for some of the other companies.

They have more than 100 million customer accounts with $1 trillion of managed assets. Wells Fargo makes the majority of its money through other banking tasks like lending and account fees.

2. Bank of America – $89.11 Billion

Bank of America is one of the largest and most recognizable banks in the world. It has over $2.16 trillion in assets and over 5,000 branches and 15,000 ATMs across 25 countries. It also provides banking and financial services to more than 200 million customers.

Bank of America has been named one of the “World’s Most Innovative Companies” by Forbes five times since 2012. It was also awarded a place on Fortune’s list of most admired companies for six straight years from 2011 through 2016.

Despite its overall size, the company only processes around 8.5 billion dollars each year. Instead, Bank of America gets the majority of its revenue from consumer banking. The bank has also become increasingly digitized, including contactless ATMs.

1. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank – $127.202 Billion

J.P. Morgan Chase has been a leader in the credit card processing industry since 2000. It has had many successful years and remains the largest processing company worldwide. It processes 31.8 billion dollars each year, making it the largest processing company by that metric alone.

To boot, the company has more than 200 million customers worldwide with assets totaling $2 trillion dollars. J.P. Morgan Chase goes beyond standard banking and credit card processing. It also provides investment banking services for corporations and government agencies globally.

The J.P. Morgan Chase Bank was formed in 2000 when Chase Manhattan Bank merged with J P Morgan & Co. This merger created one of the largest banks in America. It also became one of the largest credit card processing companies in America at that time. Since then, the company has continued to grow into the giant it is today.

The company had a massive annual revenue of $127.202 billion in 2021. That’s actually a 2.09% decline from their 2020 revenue.

10 Largest Credit Card Processing Companies In The World

Why You Should Know These 10 Companies

There are many reasons that you should know more information about the ten companies we’ve listed here, including more about how they operate and what services they offer.

• Informed Banking: The most important group of people to all of these companies is their customer base. Knowing more information about their operations and values enables you to choose more carefully than the average banking client about where you store your money.
• Latest Ranking Updates: Banking companies are in constant competition with each other, and knowing more about the ten largest ones will allow you to other companies with your bank to make sure it is staying at the forefront of customer satisfaction and security.
• Risk: The ten companies on this list are the largest banking corporations in the world, which means that they are subject to more potential financial risk and security concerns.

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