Fiserv, Inc. (FISV)

Fiserv reported a third-quarter 2026 net loss of $5.94 billion attributable to the company on 3 November, after a $6.45 billion non-cash goodwill impairment charge 12.

Goodwill is the amount paid for acquisitions above the value of the assets acquired, and the company wrote part of it down after testing every reporting unit 2.

Revenue was $5.20 billion, down 1 percent from a year earlier, and organic revenue, which leaves out currency, acquisitions, dispositions and postage, was flat 1.

Chief Executive Takis Georgakopoulos said net attrition in banking is down more than 25 percent year to date and that major client wins are now ramping 1.

The company affirmed its 2026 outlook of organic revenue from negative 1 percent to 0 percent and adjusted earnings per share of $7.20 to $7.40 1. It also raised its Project Elevate savings target to $1 billion from $500 million 1.

The open question is whether the fourth-quarter revenue acceleration that finance chief Paul Todd described arrives 1. A second is what the portfolio review produces for businesses the company calls not core 3.

Fiserv completed its merger with First Data on 29 July 2019 14. Each First Data share was converted into the right to receive 0.303 of a Fiserv share 14. The subsidiary list in the latest annual report still names First Data Corporation and First Data Merchant Services LLC 5.

Revenue grew from $19.09 billion in 2023 to $20.46 billion in 2024 and $21.19 billion in 2025 4. In 2025 it rose $737 million, or 4 percent, with Merchant up 5 percent and Financial up 2 percent 4.

Small Business, which includes the Clover point-of-sale platform, supplied 5 points of the Merchant growth in 2025, mainly from volume 4.

Operating income slipped $61 million in 2025, and operating margin fell to 27.5 percent from 28.7 percent 4. The company named higher payments to distribution partners, about 60 basis points of revenue, and higher data processing costs, about 40 basis points 4.

In the third quarter of 2024, Wells Fargo gave notice that it would not renew the Wells Fargo Merchant Services alliance, which Fiserv accounted for as an equity method investment 4. When the joint venture expired on 1 April 2025, Fiserv received an initial cash payment of $453 million and signed a multi-year agreement to process for Wells Fargo's merchant clients 4.

In 2025 Fiserv acquired Payfare on 2 March, CCV Group on 18 March and Pinch Payments on 4 April 2. It added Money Money on 4 June, CardFree on 4 September, Smith Consulting Group on 25 September and part of Toronto-Dominion Bank's Canadian merchant business on 1 October 2. StoneCastle followed on 17 December, and the group came to $857 million net of $84 million of acquired cash 2.

On 29 October 2025 the company cut its outlook for 2025 organic revenue growth to 3.5 to 4 percent, from about 10 percent in July 1013. Chief Executive Mike Lyons said current performance was not where the company wanted it to be 10. The same day it launched the One Fiserv action plan, built on five strategic pillars 10.

Second-quarter 2026 revenue was $5.29 billion, down 4 percent, with Financial Solutions down 8 percent 12. On 6 August 2026 the company cut its 2026 organic revenue outlook to negative 1 percent to 0 percent from the 1 percent to 3 percent it gave on 10 February 1211.

On 12 June 2026 Michael Lyons resigned as chief executive, and on 14 June Takis Georgakopoulos, until then co-president, was appointed to the role 6.

In the third quarter it completed two disposals 2. On 5 August it sold a 51 percent controlling interest in MoneyPass for net cash proceeds of $102 million 2. On 2 September it sold its student loan servicing business for net consideration of $85 million 2.

Merchant Solutions and Clover

Merchant Solutions provides commerce-enabling products to companies of all sizes, from card acceptance and online payments to software and point-of-sale devices 4. Its Small Business line includes Clover, a point-of-sale and business management platform with the hardware and software a shop needs to take payments and orders 4.

The company says it is expanding Clover in Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico, Belgium, Spain and Japan, and offers owners advance access to capital through Clover Capital 4.

Merchant revenue was $10.14 billion in 2025, up 5 percent, at an operating margin of 34.5 percent 4. In the first nine months of 2026 it was $7.50 billion, down 1 percent, at 28.4 percent 12.

Third-quarter Merchant revenue fell 3 percent, mainly because Argentina revenue from anticipation, the company's term for its merchant and settlement cash advances, fell $56 million on lower inflation and interest rates 2.

The Motley Fool transcript lists Clover gross payment volume at $75 billion, growing 11 percent when specific gateway conversions are excluded 3. Enterprise sells an omnichannel system and Commerce Hub, a gateway that connects online and in-store payments for large merchants 43.

Financial Solutions

Financial Solutions serves banks, credit unions and other institutions through three lines: Digital Payments, Issuing and Banking 4. Banking runs the core accounts, loans and deposits of a bank, using platforms named DNA, Finxact, Premier, CoreAdvance, Portico and Signature 4.

Issuing processes credit and prepaid cards, and the company owns the Accel, STAR and MoneyPass debit networks and offers a turnkey Zelle service 4. MoneyPass has since moved into a joint venture in which the company holds 49 percent 2.

Financial revenue was $9.66 billion in 2025, up 2 percent, at a 45.3 percent margin 4. In the first nine months of 2026 it fell 4 percent to $6.99 billion, at a margin of 38.3 percent 12.

In the third quarter Financial revenue was flat at $2.33 billion, as Issuing grew 2 percent and Digital Payments and Banking each declined 1 percent 2. Georgakopoulos said banking revenue still reflects the higher client attrition of past years, and the finance chief said improvements should reach revenue in 9 to 12 months 3.

The transcript lists Finxact, the cloud core-banking platform, at 50 million accounts and Zelle transactions up more than 20 percent 3.

Where the revenue comes from

Processing and services, fees charged per account or per transaction under multi-year contracts, made up 80 percent of 2025 revenue 4. Product sales such as print, card production, software licences, data and hardware made up 20 percent 4. The U.S. and Canada supplied 84 percent of revenue and other regions 16 percent 4.

Plants, offices and people

At 31 December 2025 Fiserv owned 16 properties and leased 120, with campuses in Florida, Georgia, Nebraska, New Jersey, Wisconsin and Dublin, Ireland, and over 38,000 employees 4. Georgakopoulos said the company has cut 3,000 contractors and employees since he became chief executive 3.

Georgakopoulos came from JPMorgan, where he was Global Head of Payments in its Corporate and Investment Bank from 2017 to 2024 6. Paul Todd, formerly chief financial officer of Global Payments, became finance chief effective 31 October 2025 10.

Co-president Dhivya Suryadevara resigned on 7 July 2026, and Andrew Gelb and Srini Krish became interim leaders of Financial Solutions 7. Adam Rosman left as chief legal officer on 30 September 2026, succeeded by Eric Nelson on 1 October 8.

The board appointed Raj Seshadri, a Mastercard senior strategic advisor, as a director effective 30 November 2026 9.

Rivals

The company names its principal competitors only by type: large integrated financial technology providers, merchant acquirers, independent sales organizations, software vendors, payments companies and payment network operators 4. It adds that some rivals hold substantial financial, sales and marketing resources 4.

Current problems

An amended securities complaint filed on 12 June 2026 names the company and four former senior executives and covers purchasers from 6 February 2024 to 28 October 2025 2. It alleges statements about Clover growth and the Argentina business were false or misleading, and the defendants moved to dismiss on 11 August 2026 2.

Derivative suits that follow the same allegations are stayed pending that decision 2. Since November 2025 the company has answered requests from the SEC's Enforcement Division and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York about its 2025 earnings guidance 2.

One reporting unit in Financial Solutions, with $1.8 billion of goodwill, has the thinnest cushion at about 10 percent, and the company says further declines could require another charge 2.

The umbrella, in words

The brands the annual report names include Clover and Commerce Hub for merchants, Finxact and CoreAdvance for bank cores, CheckFree for bill payment, Money Network for prepaid cards, and the Accel, STAR and MoneyPass networks 4.

Exhibit 21.1 lists significant subsidiaries, all in the U.S.: CardConnect, Checkfree Services, Concord EFS, First Data Corporation, First Data Hydra Holdings and First Data International 5. It also names First Data Merchant Services, First Data Resources, Fiserv Funding, Fiserv Solutions and Information Technology, LLC 5.

The company owns a 49 percent interest in MoneyPass Group, carried at $107 million and accounted for under the equity method, after the sale of a 51 percent controlling interest 2. In 2025 it acquired the remaining 49.9 percent of AIB Merchant Services and the remaining 19 percent of ICICI Merchant Services, both now consolidated 2.

Large holders report passive stakes: Dodge & Cox reported 9.2 percent of the common stock as of 31 December 2025, and Vanguard Capital Management reported 7.18 percent as of 31 March 2026 1516.

The company said on 3 November it expects to repurchase $500 million of its common stock in the fourth quarter of 2026 under its existing authorization 1. As of the end of the third quarter, the program allowed up to 40,840,735 more shares 2.

It continues to expect 2026 organic revenue of negative 1 percent to 0 percent and adjusted earnings per share of $7.20 to $7.40 1. Todd said second-half initiatives are on track to support the revenue acceleration the company expects in the fourth quarter 1.

Georgakopoulos said the larger Project Elevate savings target of $1 billion gives confidence the company can trend toward a 37 percent adjusted operating margin over the long term 3. He said the company is in conversations with multiple parties about businesses it does not consider core, and that it is too early to estimate proceeds 3.

On the call the company said it expects to end the year with gross leverage of about 3 times adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization 3. The student loan sale also carries contingent earn-out payments of up to $52 million, recognized only when realized 2.

The company said it will launch Clover for Enterprise, a platform that unifies card-present and online acceptance for larger merchants with several locations 3. It also said it will open its AgentOS program to a broader set of customers next year and launch new agent capabilities 3.

On the call the company said it is increasingly confident banking will return to the low single-digit adjusted revenue growth discussed at its Investor Day 3. The annual report lists the launch of its stablecoin FIUSD among investments the company anticipates will drive its embedded finance business 4.

Court dates are open: the motion to dismiss the securities complaint, filed on 11 August 2026, has no decision yet on file 2. Raj Seshadri joins the board on 30 November 2026 9.