Fiserv, Inc., the provider of financial services technology applications, announced the celebration of its 25th year as a company. It was July 31, 1984 when Sunshine State Systems, Inc. in Tampa, Florida and First Data Processing based in Milwaukee, Wis., combined to form Fiserv, the first national financial services company, with its headquarters in Milwaukee.
The regional data processors combined to serve small banks and thrifts, growing organically and through more than 150 acquisitions, from a USD21 million business, with 350 employees in 1984, to a USD4.7 billion Fortune 500 company, with 20,000 employees and the No. 1 ranking on the FinTech 100 list of technology partners serving the financial services industry.
We had a great idea to focus on data processing for banks and build from our foundation of regional operations to create a nationwide enterprise. Now, 25 years later, Fiserv is a global powerhouse, far exceeding anyones expectations, says George Dalton, Fiserv co-founder, and former chairman, chief executive officer (1984-2000). Fiserv went public, trading on NASDAQ under the symbol FISV in 1986, as a USD70 million data processor. Within four years, Fiserv was serving some of the nations largest financial institutions.
In 1991, Fiserv entered the commercial bank, international, and credit union core account processing markets for the first time, doubling the number of clients with the acquisition of Citicorp Information Resources, a subsidiary of Citicorp. Today Fiserv sells its applications in more than 40 countries serving clients around the globe. In 1995, Fiserv acquired Information Technology, Inc., (ITI), in Lincoln, Nebraska, expanding the number of account processing clients for Fiserv, and gaining the most widely implemented account processing platform in the United States, Premier. Don Dillon, Founder of ITI, former Fiserv Vice Chairman (1995-2000) and current Chairman of the Board, said, Fiserv serves more clients today, and has continually created value for our clients by anticipating their needs. We continue to offer them the best possible applications, with a cultural commitment to earn their trust every day. At Fiserv, we continue to serve community banks, regional banks and, credit unions and, notably, provide every one of the top 100 banks in the U.S. with one or more of our products and services.
In 2007, Fiserv made its largest acquisition of its first 25 years, buying CheckFree Corporation, a world leader in financial electronic commerce, and the leading provider of online banking, online bill pay and electronic bills. Since this acquisition a primary focus of Fiserv has been to lead digital innovation and provide integrated applications for the companys 16,000 clients. In February of this year, Fiserv announced a new go-to-market strategy in which all business units were branded Fiserv, bringing one name to the market and optimizing access to the companys considerable strengths, technology applications and expertise for its clients.
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