Transform, Consolidate, or Die: U.S. Acquirers on an Unsustainable Path
Report Summary
Transform, Consolidate, or Die: U.S. Acquirers on an Unsustainable Path
Buoyed by new technologies and products, new entrants have taken primary leadership roles in the acquiring industry.
Boston, September 4, 2013 - The merchant acquiring business has reached a point of commoditization and margin compression, and a bevy of savvy new entrants and forward-thinking organizations are leveraging mobile and other technologies to aggressively differentiate from the pack. Acquirers must implement new strategies, but they are weighed down by industry-wide margin compression and increasing obligations that restrict their ability to transform. The net result is an unsustainable path for the traditional acquiring industry. Acquirers that successfully invest and transform themselves to compete in the new era will be the survivors, consolidators, or acquisition targets. Those that don't could be left behind.
Based on 26 Q1 and Q2 2013 Aite Group interviews with acquiring executives from 22 U.S. merchant acquiring organizations, this report by senior analyst Rick Oglesby assesses key trends in merchant acquiring as of mid-2013. Companies mentioned in this report are Chase, Element Payment Services, First Data, Global Payments, Google, Heartland Payment Systems, Intuit, MasterCard, Merchant Warehouse, Mercury Payment Systems, PayPal, Square, Vantiv and Visa.
This 26-page Impact Report contains 17 figures. Clients of Aite Group's Retail Banking service can download the report .