March, 2014
Did you know that Georgia is one of the world’s largest centers for the payment processing industry? Four of the largest US payment processing companies all are based in the state.
- In 2009 First Data moved from Denver to Atlanta and established their headquarters in the Perimeter area. By many measures, First Data is one of the world’s largest payment processing companies. They process several billion transactions annually and provide payment processing services to millions of merchant locations. In addition to providing payment processing services for their group of merchant subscribers, they provide payment processing services for many other financial institutions. They also provide other services, including money transfer services (they own Western Union). First Data was bought by the investment firm KKR in 2007 and is now private.
- TSYS is a company in Columbus that has been in the industry a long time. The company is a leader in the payment space and services large issuing and acquiring bases.
- Elavon has, in the last decade, rebranded itself; it was formerly called NOVA Information Systems. The company provides payment processing services and is based in Atlanta, their headquarters is also in the Perimeter area. Elavon also ranks as one of the largest US processors.
- Global Payments was created by a combination of NDC (National Data Corporation) and MasterCard (payment processing division). The company processes billions of transactions and provides payment processing services to over a million merchant locations. Like the three other companies in Georgia, Global Payments is one of the largest US processors.