Fiserv Q4 Earnings Make Digital-First Star Of The 2021 Show

Payments and technology firm Fiserv plays in a lot of different areas, from acceptance to FinTechs to digital banking. As it announced its Q4 and full-year earnings on Tuesday (Feb. 9), it became evident that those digital-first capabilities were the star of the show in 2020 and will be in the new year.

Specifically, the company put the spotlight on several of its digital products Tuesday, from its new acquisition of digital card services platform OnDot and its SMB-focused Clover point of sale system to its Carat omnichannel commerce solution. According to CEO Frank Bisignano, Clover’s gross payment volume in Q4 grew 25 percent to $34 billion and $135 billion for the year. Fiserv also noted that global eCommerce transactions were up 25 percent for Q4 and the full-year, and specific digital-first tools such as its BOPIS application was up 125 percent over 2019.

“For Clover, it really is about market share in the eCommerce space, and then its market share gains on the SMB side,” he said. “Clover has played a significant role in that. And I would say you when you look at its growth across all SMBs in every manner, shape and form, we didn’t have a big position in the past and we continue to grow that out and that will continue, especially as we bring Carat to our large institutional clients.”

Fiserv has been a champion of small- to medium-sized businesses during the pandemic. Some of its support during 2020 included the development of a platform that enabled hundreds of Fiserv client financial institutions across the United States to facilitate more than 100,000 Paycheck Protection Program loans. Other support has been more direct, such as personally reaching out to every SMB that uses Clover to offer assistance and accelerating innovation of digital-first solutions like online ordering, virtual terminals and QR-code based payments.

The company also discussed its mobile banking area, with its mobile solution integrations up 15 percent in Q4. In fact, in the second half of 2020, Fiserv integrated more mobile solutions than in the entire year of 2019. Mobile deposits in Q4 came in at  33 percent over 2019.

But digital banking and retail tech are not the only verticals for Fiserv, and in those other areas, results were mixed. Overall revenue for Q4 was $3.83 billion, down 5 percent compared to 2019. By segment, Acceptance was down 7 percent, FinTechs were down 1 percent and the Payments segment down 2 percent. The revenue picture looked much better for the full year. Revenue for the full year of 2020 came in at $14.85 billion, 46 percent over 2019. The Acceptance segment was up 115 percent and payments were up 41 percent. The 2020 results include revenue from the July 2019 acquisition of FirstData. Profit came in at $300 million for Q4, compared with $247 million in 2019.

Fiserv warned that Q1 would come in roughly the same as it did in 2020. Bisignano said the growth rate projections for the balance of 2021 assume the improvement of the pandemic and increased vaccinations throughout the first half of the year, leading to economic recovery in the second half.

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