First Data

Type	Private
Founded	1969
Headquarters	Atlanta, Georgia
Key people	Michael Capellas, Chairman & CEO
Industry	Finance and Insurance
Products	Financial services
Owner(s)	Kohlberg Kravis Roberts
Employees	27,000 (2008)
Website	www.firstdata.com

First Data Corporation is an American payment processing company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. First Data is a provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions, and the company's chief rival is TSYS. The company's portfolio includes merchant transaction processing services; credit, debit, private-label, gift, payroll and other prepaid card offerings; fraud protection and authentication solutions; electronic check acceptance services through TeleCheck; as well as Internet commerce and mobile payment solutions. The company's STAR Network offers PIN-secured debit acceptance at ATM and retail locations.

[edit] History

This article is in a list format that may be better presented using prose. You can help by converting this article to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2009)

In 1969, the Mid-America Bankcard Association (MABA) was formed in Omaha, Nebraska, as a non-profit bankcard processing cooperative. Two years later, First Data Resources (FDR) incorporated in June to become a for-profit organization providing processing services to MABA. FDR had 110 employees and $2 million in annual revenues. First Data is an agglomeration of various cooperative associations which were initially established to provide credit card data processing services for member banks. These include Eastern States Bankcard Association; Atlantic States Bankcard Association; Southwestern States Bankcard Association; Mountain States Bankcard Association, and Western States Bankcard Association.

In 1980, American Express Information Services Corporation (ISC) bought 80% of FDR. The remaining 20% was purchased in 5% increments each subsequent year until June 1983. First Data Corporation spun off from American Express and went public in 1992. In 1995, the company merged with First Financial Management Corp. (FFMC) and was then organized into three major business units serving card issuers, merchants and consumers. Western Union became part of First Data as a result of the merger with FFMC.

By 1998, First Data was providing transaction processing services not only in the U.S., but also in markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Mexico and Canada. The company also began to see significant growth in its network of Western Union agent locations. This set the stage for First Data to become a leading global provider of electronic commerce and payment solutions to businesses and consumers worldwide.

From 2001 through 2005, a period of expansion occurred as First Data acquired companies around the globe and in the U.S., including the $17.8 million acquisition of PaySys [1] and their VisionPlus System [2] and the $6.6 billion merger with Concord EFS in 2004, which added the STAR Network and PIN-based debit acceptance at more than 1.9 million ATM and retail locations. Additional acquisitions and strategic relationships included GovOne, the creation of eONEGlobal as a venture capital fund and the acquisition of Taxware, which would be merged into a new entity, named Velosant to spearhead broad Supply Chain Management initiatives. First Data also established a consumer payments brand which would take Direct Debit offerings to the retail marketplace. First Data further expanded geographically in Europe, Asia and Latin America.

In 2005, First Data was among 53 entities that contributed the maximum of $250,000 to the second inauguration of President George W. Bush.^[1][2][3]

On January 26, 2006, First Data announced its intention to spin off Western Union into an independent publicly traded company through a tax-free spin-off of 100% of Western Union to First Data shareholders. The spin off occurred as planned on September 29, 2006.

On April 2, 2007 it was announced that Kohlberg Kravis Roberts (KKR) entered an agreement to acquire First Data (NY Times article)

Now under private ownership, First Data's stock was taken off the New York Stock Exchange on the 24th of September. On October 1, 2007 KKR officially took over the First Data Corporation. Ric Duques retired, leaving the CEO position to Michael Capellas. Michael Capellas was previously the CEO of MCI, Inc., the president of Hewlett-Packard Company, and also the chairman/CEO of the Compaq Computer Corporation.

After First Data became privately owned, hundreds of workers were laid off across North America, Europe and Australia.

First Data entered the Ireland market in a joint venture(JV) with Allied Irish Banks plc (www.aib.ie). The JV will be named AIB Merchant Services.

[edit] Management

Key executives include:

• Michael Capellas: Chairman & Chief Executive Officer
• Thomas R. Bell, Jr.: Executive Vice President & Chief Strategy Officer
• Peter Boucher: Executive Vice President, Human Resources
• Ed Labry: President, USA
• David Money: Executive Vice President, General Counsel
• Grace Chen Trent: Executive Vice President, Marketing & Communications
• Phil Wall: Executive Vice President & Chief Financial Officer
• David Yates: President, International
• Bob DeRodes: Chief technical officer

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• First Data website