Global Payments Inc

CaixaBank and Global Payments are building on a series of partnerships to build a joint prepaid venture in Europe.

Investors and deep-pocketed payments firms have funneled hundreds of billions of dollars into the payments industry, demanding results in areas as wide ranging as digital processing, consumer experience, risk management and compliance.

2019 kicked off with a series of large, multibillion-dollar acquisitions that promised to forever change the landscape of the payments industry. And while those big deals were clustered at the start of the year, many other pivotal deals took place over the course of the year.

The success of Fiserv’s acquisition of First Data, FIS’ purchase of WorldPay, or Global Payments merger with TSYS rides on the companies’ ability to address merchants that are under extreme pressure.

The big payment processor/bank technology mergers that were announced early this year are officially closing, setting the stage for complicated conversions and a fierce battle for customer share.

CaixaBank, Global Payments and terminal maker Ingenico are investing 5 million euros to establish an international innovation program designed to identify and aid promising fintech startups.

The stocks of a wide swath of publicly traded payments companies are rising faster than the overall S&P 500 index, potentially fueled by several mega mergers in the first half of 2019.

Global Payments' purchase of TSYS is the latest merger of large payment technology companies — and by no means the last.

TSYS and Global Payments have announced a $21.5 billion merger, the third M&A deal in the financial/fintech industry of more than $20 billion this year.

Following the FIS-Worldpay and Fiserv-First Data deals, the payments and bank technology industries are in the midst of major consolidation, and TSYS is looking for a merger partner to stay competitive.