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In the almost 15 years since its debut, Clover, the point-of-sale system from Fiserv Inc., has reached 4 million devices sold, Fiserv says.
Acquired by First Data Corp. in 2012, Clover started in 2010 as a point-of-sale service with hardware and software. Now, its devices and software are part of Fiserv, which acquired First Data in 2019. With 4 million Clover units sold, Fiserv has updated the service many times and added devices.
Though Fiserv may be a very large payments company, it faces a lot of competition. Retail and restaurants are highly sought after for processing, and, as digital payment use has increased, new markets have surfaced that organizations like Square, Toast, Lightspeed, Shopify, Helcim, and Stripe all vie for. An evaluation from Javelin Strategy & Research ranks Clover as a top POS system provider, with Square and Epos Now as leaders, too.
Clover has continued to address hardware and software updates, says Will Karczewski, senior vice president and head of Clover at Fiserv. Clover Hospitality launched in May. Fiserv enabled Klarna’s buy now, pay later services on Clover point-of-sale devices in April. And a kiosk version of Clover launched in 2024.
A Clover device—there are now nine, not including accessories—can be found in many locations, such as on a U.S. military base in South Korea, the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, and the visitor center at Joshua Tree National Park in California.
Karczewski says Clover’s role is about sustainable growth. “Clover is continuing to grow as a platform in the small and medium-size business space,” Karczewski says. With a strong presence in retail and restaurant segments, Clover has looked beyond those markets. While the majority of its clients are in restaurant, retail, and services, Clover is eyeing professional services as another growth area, he says.
These might be small businesses that might not have a need for card-present acceptance, but do for card-not-present, he says, such as a landscaper who may want to prepare a quote and, if successful, an invoice that can be paid and tracked within Clover. Another is health care. There is increasing demand in that segment, Karczewski says
Medical offices are attractive because the average ticket size is attractive and they have recurring payments, Karczewski says. There is demand for managing payments in the complex health-care field, too, Fiserv says.
As for the 4 million Clover devices, Karczewski says sales have only accelerated over time. Fiserv reached each successive millionth unit sooner than the previous millionth. [photo caption]Clover sales have only accelerated for Fiserv since the processor acquired the POS technology in 2019.
