Global Payments has successfully completed its acquisition of payment processor Worldpay for approximately $24.3 billion. This agreement involved the purchase from Fidelity National Information Services (FIS) and its private-equity owner GTCR. Concurrently, Global Payments has concluded the sale of its card issuer technology to FIS for $13.5 billion. The transactions are part of a strategic realignment for both companies, allowing them to focus on their core business areas amid increasing competition from emerging payment technology firms.
Strategic Realignment and Market Positioning
The deal, which includes $1.6 billion in tax assets, was first announced about ten months ago. It aims to reduce FIS’s reliance on merchant acquiring while also limiting Global Payments’ exposure to card issuing technology typically sold to banks. With this acquisition, Global Payments will significantly enhance its operations, covering over 6 million merchant locations and processing more than $3.7 trillion in payment volume across 175 countries.
In a statement, Global Payments CEO Cameron Bready emphasized the importance of expanding capabilities and geographic reach. He noted, “Combining with Worldpay expands our capabilities and increases our geographic reach while providing additional, complementary distribution channels.” Bready highlighted that being a “scale player” in this industry is increasingly vital. Global Payments plans to invest over $1 billion annually in technology initiatives, anticipating annual cost synergies of $600 million and revenue synergies of least $200 million from the merger.
Innovations and Future Prospects
The merger is also expected to bolster Global Payments’ initiatives in the digital asset sector. Worldpay’s collaboration with cryptocurrency technology firm BVNK enables clients to process payments in USDC, enhancing Global Payments’ stablecoin strategy. Additionally, Worldpay has partnered with loan provider Affirm to integrate its lending options into Worldpay’s software offerings.
The combined entity will also leverage Global Payments’ recently revamped payment product suite branded as Genius. This suite, which combines over a dozen new and existing payment systems, launched in May 2025 for restaurants and retailers, expanding to large enterprise clients by September of the same year.
FIS, in turn, has rebranded its offering to emphasize its focus on bank and card issuing technology through the FIS Total Issuing Solutions brand. CEO and President Stephanie Ferris expressed satisfaction with the timely completion of the acquisition, stating, “We are pleased to have closed this strategic acquisition ahead of schedule, enabling us to start 2026 in a strong position to deliver greater value to our financial institution and corporate clients.”
Analysts from William Blair project that FIS will service 60% of the world’s top 150 banks, presenting a cross-sell opportunity valued at $1.4 billion along with an additional $930 million in untapped potential. Meanwhile, Global Payments’ issuer business is expected to see a revenue growth of 4% on a constant-currency basis, with margins improving by at least 50 basis points in 2025.
The series of mergers and acquisitions in the payment and bank technology sector has unfolded over several years, particularly as technology-driven competitors such as PayPal, Square, and Stripe have gained market share. The payments M&A wave in 2019 alone totaled over $100 billion, with significant transactions including Fiserv’s acquisition of First Data and FIS’s purchase of Worldpay.
As Global Payments and FIS navigate this new landscape, the integration of their operations is set to redefine their market positions, allowing them to better compete against agile fintech rivals.
