A ‘Choppy’ Market Recovery and Timing Issues Lead Fiserv to Trim a Forecast

Fiserv Inc. early Wednesday reported $10.65 billion in revenue for the first half of 2025, representing a 7% increase from the first six months of 2024, but it was a revised projection for revenue growth for the whole year that drew the attention of equity analysts on a group call to discuss the big processor’s June-quarter results.

The Milwaukee-based company is now projecting a 10% rise in organic revenue for the year, revised from a former forecast ranging from 10% to 12%. Fiserv’s top brass blamed product timing and wider economic factors.  “Our original plan [was] 10% to 12%. We’re now seeing a choppier recovery in the macro economy, so now we’re guiding to the bottom end of that range, which is 10%,” said chief financial officer Bob Hau when analysts raised questions about the revision. Organic revenue refers to revenue apart from recent acquisitions.

Some new-product delays apparently also played a role. “Getting products to market puts us at the bottom of that 10% to 12% range,” noted Michael Lyons, who early this year took over as CEO upon the departure of Frank Bisignano to run the Social Security Administration. “We like all the products, we’re just giving you a look at the timing.”

Lyons admitted early in the call that “some initiatives are taking longer than we planned. Some of that is on us.” He did not add details, but reminded his audience of Fiserv’s extensive reach outside the U.S. market. “We’re just scratching the surface of our global opportunities,” he said.

Fiserv’s merchant-processing unit, which accounts for 48% of Fiserv’s business, grew 9% compared to the first half of 2024, reaching $2.64 billion in revenue. A key driver here is the company’s Clover point-of-sale technology,  Clover produced $337 billion in annualized volume for the quarter, up 8% year-over-year

Now Fiserv is eyeing some expansions for Clover, which came to the company in 2019 when it paid $22 billion to acquire First Data Corp. One big initiative is Clover Hospitality, which Fiserv launched in May and which went live this month. Next up is Clover Practice Pay, aimed at the health-care market and set to launch next year, according to Lyons. “SMB health care represents the largest area of demand from our partners,” Lyons said during the call. “SMB” refers to small and medium-size businesses.

Fiserv early Wednesday agreed to act as merchant-service provider for TD Bank and to buy part of the bank’s merchant-processing business in a deal expected to close later this year, according to Lyons.  During the quarter, Fiserv signed 49 banks for merchant processing, bringing the company’s total so far to 82. Banks aside, the company also agreed to provide processing at some 5400 stores in an agreement with UPS.

As for the company’s stablecoin, FIUSD, the launch is expected by the end of the year in the form of a pilot, Lyons said. The product, announced last month and developed with Circle Internet Group Inc., is aimed at financial institutions as a white-label solution.

For the quarter, Fiserv reported $5.2 billion in adjusted revenue, combining its merchant-solutions, financial solutions, and corporate units. That represents an 8% increase over the same quarter in 2024. Adjusted operating income came to $2.06 billion, up 12%.