Item 1. Business

Overview

Fiserv, Inc. is a leading global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions. We are publicly traded on the New York Stock Exchange and part of the S&P 500 Index. We serve clients around the globe, including merchants, banks, credit unions, other financial institutions, corporate and public sector clients. We help clients achieve best-in-class results through a commitment to innovation and excellence in areas including account processing and digital banking solutions; card issuer processing and network services; payments; e-commerce; merchant acquiring and processing; and the Clover® cloud-based point-of-sale (“POS”) and business management platform. Most of the products and services we provide are necessary for our clients to operate their businesses and are therefore non-discretionary in nature. We serve our global client base by working among our geographic teams across various regions, including the United States of America (“U.S.”) and Canada; Europe, Middle East and Africa; Latin America; and Asia Pacific.

In 2024, we had $20.5 billion in total revenue, $5.9 billion in operating income and $6.6 billion of net cash provided by operating activities. Processing and services revenue, which in 2024 represented 81% of our total revenue, is primarily generated from account- and transaction-based fees under multi-year contracts that generally have high renewal rates. We have operations and offices located both within the U.S. and Canada, and internationally, which as a percentage of total revenue were as follows:

						Year Ended December 31,
(In millions)						2024						2023						2022
Total revenue						$	20,456					$	19,093					$	17,737
U.S. and Canada						85		%				85		%				86		%
International (1)						15		%				15		%				14		%

(1) Represents revenue in the following international regions: EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), LATAM (Latin America) and APAC (Asia-Pacific).

We have grown our business through acquisitions and organically by signing new clients, expanding the products and services we provide to existing clients, offering new and enhanced products and services developed through innovation and acquisition, and extending our capabilities geographically, all of which have enabled us to deliver a wide range of products and services and created new opportunities for growth.

Our headquarters are located at 600 N. Vel R. Phillips Avenue, Milwaukee, Wisconsin 53203, and our telephone number is (262) 879-5000.

Effective in the first quarter of 2024, we realigned our reportable segments to correspond with changes in our business designed to further enhance operational performance in the delivery of our integrated portfolio of products and solutions to our financial institution clients (the “Segment Realignment”). Our new reportable segments are the Merchant Solutions (“Merchant”) segment and the Financial Solutions (“Financial”) segment.

Merchant Solutions

The businesses in our Merchant segment provide commerce-enabling products and services to companies of all sizes around the world. These products and services include merchant acquiring and digital commerce services; mobile payment services; security and fraud protection solutions; stored-value solutions; software-as-a-service (“SaaS”); POS devices; and pay-by-bank solutions. The business lines aggregated within the Merchant segment consist of the following:

*•*Small Business – provides products and services to small businesses and independent software vendors (“ISVs”), including Clover®, our POS and business management platform for small business clients

*•*Enterprise – provides products and services to large businesses, including our integrated omnichannel operating system for enterprise clients

*•*Processing – provides products and services to financial institutions, joint ventures, and other third party resellers which have direct relationships with merchants

We distribute the products and services in the Merchant segment businesses through a variety of channels, including direct sales teams, strategic partnerships with agent sales forces, ISVs, independent sales organizations (“ISOs”), financial institutions and other strategic partners in the form of merchant alliances, revenue sharing alliances and referral agreements.

Small Business

We offer merchant acquiring solutions to enable small businesses to securely accept payment transactions online or in-person. Payment transactions include credit, debit, gift card and loyalty payments online or through a physical POS or mobile device, such as a smartphone or tablet.

Our global point-of-sale and business management platform, Clover®, includes hardware and software technology necessary to enable small business merchants to accept payments; take orders; schedule pick-up and delivery services; and provide vertical specific business management tools. By integrating next-generation hardware and SaaS capabilities, along with value-added services, Clover has become a leader in enabling omnichannel commerce solutions for small businesses. We also offer small business owners advance access to capital through our Clover Capital cash advance and, within our international operations, merchant anticipation programs.

Enterprise

We provide products and services to large businesses that are designed to enable clients to engage in commerce through various channels including online and mobile, drive value and savings through transactions, and engage more customers. Our integrated omnichannel operating system allows enterprise clients to orchestrate payments and create consistent customer commerce experiences, delivered how and when their customers want. These solutions help clients maximize approval rates, reduce declines, lower fraud and chargebacks, reduce costs and improve the customer experience. Through this integrated platform, a variety of payment and commerce solutions can be accessed, including payment acceptance, payments optimization, fraud mitigation, online electronic benefits transfers, pay-by-bank and digital payouts. We also offer a single platform for payment facilitators, marketplaces, software companies, and acquiring banks to compliantly manage boarding, credit and risk, and money movement for sub-merchants. Clients can access our enterprise services through Commerce Hub™, our next generation gateway and orchestration layer that provides full-function e-commerce, omnichannel and multi-acquirer solutions that ease development effort and maintenance.

Our Enterprise business also provides end-to-end, omnichannel solutions to securely implement and manage stored value programs such as gift cards and loyalty, which help clients drive revenue and customer engagement. These solutions include physical and digital gift card fulfillment, program management, e-commerce gift card storefronts, security and fraud protection, transaction processing services, incentive and rebate cards as well as reloadable and non-reloadable prepaid cards that may be used with a variety of mobile applications. We help our clients consolidate their forms of stored value in a single digital wallet that is enabled in-store for true omnichannel customer engagement. Additionally, we provide payment services to companies, such as utilities, telephone and cable companies, lending institutions and insurance providers. These services enable our clients to reduce costs, collect payments faster through multiple channels and increase customer satisfaction, providing customers flexible, easy-to-use ways to view and pay their bills.

Processing

We provide products and services to financial institutions, joint ventures, and other third-party resellers such as ISOs, which have direct relationships with merchants. We provide these distribution partners with integrated merchant technology solutions to help them grow their businesses and manage their portfolios. Partner technology tools enable real-time access to portfolio activity and pricing management. These strategic alliances combine our commerce-enabling technology, processing capabilities and management expertise with the distribution capabilities, footprint and customer relationships of our partners.

Financial Solutions

The businesses in our Financial segment provide products and services to financial institution, corporate and public sector clients across the world, enabling the processing of customer loan and deposit accounts, digital payments and card transactions. The business lines aggregated within the Financial segment consist of the following:

*•*Digital Payments – provides debit card processing services; debit network services; security and fraud protection products; bill payment; person-to-person payments; and account-to-account transfers

*•*Issuing – provides credit card processing services; prepaid card processing services; card production services; print services; government payment processing; and student loan processing

*•*Banking – provides customer loan and deposit account processing; digital banking; financial and risk management; professional services and consulting; and check processing

Digital Payments

We are a leading enabler of digital payment capabilities to financial institutions of all sizes, including solutions that help clients enable debit card processing services, peer-to-peer payments, account-to-account transfers, bill payment capabilities, and Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) and real-time payments.

We provide debit card processing services, which include tokenization, loyalty and reward programs; customized authorization processing; gateway processing to payment networks; ATM managed services and cash and logistics management; and risk management products. We also provide security, risk and fraud management solutions, which incorporate machine-learning-based predictive technology, that help financial institutions securely operate and grow their business by preventing fraud. CardHub provides our clients’ customers with mobile, customizable card management and alert tools that drive engagement and revenue for card issuers. We also own and operate the Accel®, STAR® and MoneyPass® networks, which provide access to funds for debit card purchases through any physical and online channel. These networks are available to all issuers and merchants in the U.S.

Our person-to-person payment and account-to-account transfer services allow consumers a convenient way to send and receive money while offering financial institutions the opportunity to generate new transaction-based revenue, attract new accounts and increase loyalty among existing customers. We offer a turnkey implementation of Zelle® real-time person-to-person payments service. Our electronic bill payment and presentment product for financial and other institutions, CheckFree® RXP®, allows our clients’ customers to manage household bills via an easy-to-use, online tool; view billing and payment information; pay and manage their bills in one place; and complete same-day or next-day bill payments to a wide range of billers and others. In addition, CashFlow Central℠, an integrated digital payment and cash flow management product, enables financial institutions to better meet the payments needs of small businesses.

Additionally, we offer products and services which enable operating efficiencies and management insight by providing financial institutions with the infrastructure they need to process, route and settle non-card-based electronic payments, including ACH, wire and instant payments, and to efficiently manage associated information flows. These products and services provide multiple payment capabilities, including domestic and international wire transfers and real time payments connection to the FedNow Service and RTP Network. PEP+ is an enterprise payment solution that allows financial institutions to automatically receive and originate electronic payments through the ACH network in a straight-through processing manner. Clients may use our payment platform applications on a licensed or hosted basis, and as an add-on to existing legacy technology or as a stand-alone comprehensive modern payments platform.

Issuing

We provide credit card processing services; card production services; print services; prepaid card processing services; government payment processing; and student loan processing.

Our credit card processing services provide solutions to financial institutions and other issuers of credit, such as group service providers, retailers and consumer finance companies, to enable them to process credit card transactions on behalf of their customers. Depending on the needs of our client, we deliver these solutions through our proprietary processing platforms, software application licenses, or SaaS hosted in the cloud. Our solutions in North America primarily use our Optis℠ platform to provide transaction authorization and posting, account maintenance and settlement. Our FirstVision™ and VisionPLUS® products are used globally to provide transaction processing services or are licensed to enable clients to process transactions on their own. We also provide financial institutions with solutions that support the lifecycle of a cardholder, including acquisition, fraud detection, credit risk management, servicing, collections and professional services.

We provide business statement and card products and services to clients across a wide variety of industries, including financial services, healthcare, retail, utilities, telecommunications, insurance and travel and entertainment. Our products and services include electronic document management through our electronic document delivery products and services; card manufacturing, personalization and mailing; statement production and mailing; and design and fulfillment of direct mail services.

Our prepaid card processing services include stored value cards offered by our Money Network® businesses. The Money Network service simplifies payment distribution for organizations while reducing or eliminating expenses associated with issuing traditional paper checks. This service also provides consumers without bank accounts with fast, digital access to their

money, including wages. Money Network solutions include Electronic Payroll Delivery, government disbursements, digital disbursements and corporate incentives as well as single-load and reloadable prepaid account options.

Our government payment and student loan processing services generally relate to the processing of consumer payment activity. We provide entitlement payments for state entities, unemployment, and disability debit card payments, as well as technology that enables our clients to provide student loan support services.

Banking

We provide customer loan and deposit account processing; digital banking; financial and risk management; professional services and consulting; and check processing. The lines between merchant acquiring, payment processing and banking are increasingly interconnected, as more banking and payment transactions are initiated at different touchpoints within merchant engagement.

Account processing solutions enable a financial institution to operate systems that process customer deposit and loan accounts, an institution’s general ledger, central information files and other financial information. These solutions also include security, reporting and other features that financial institutions need to process transactions for their customers. Although many of our clients obtain a majority of their processing requirements from us, our software design allows clients to start with one application and, as needed, add applications and features developed by us or by third parties. We support a broad range of client-owned peripheral devices manufactured by a variety of vendors, which reduce a new client’s initial conversion expenses, enhance existing clients’ ability to change technology and broaden our market opportunity. The principal account processing solutions used by our depository institution clients are Cleartouch®, DNA®, Finxact, Portico®, Precision®, Premier® and Signature®. All of these systems are available in the U.S., and the DNA, Finxact and Signature platforms are also available globally. Account processing solutions are offered primarily as an outsourced service or can be installed on client-owned computer systems or those hosted by third parties.

Our principal consumer and business digital banking platform, Experience Digital (“XD”), builds on our Configure™, Architect™, Corillian Online®, Mobiliti™ and Create™ products. XD is a cloud-based platform that enables customers to perform balance inquiries, view their transaction history and access electronic bill payments, person-to-person digital payments, card services, account and loan originations, funds transfer and personal financial management tools. XD can be highly customized and integrated to multiple products and services, allowing clients to deploy new services quickly and efficiently to increase customer acquisition, engagement and insights.

Additionally, our embedded finance solutions enable merchants and others to deliver personalized financial experiences to their customers through a combination of Fiserv solutions including Finxact, Carat, plastics, and card processing, as well as third-party services, including banking services.

We also offer consulting services, business operations services and related software products that enable the transition of check capture from branch and teller channels to digital self-service deposit channels, including mobile, merchant and ATM. Through the Fiserv® Clearing Network, we provide check clearing and image exchange services. Other products and services include image archive with online retrieval, in-clearings, exceptions and returns, statements, and fraud detection.

Our Strategy

We are focused on operating businesses where we have: deep industry expertise that enables us to serve the market with high effectiveness; a strong competitive position, currently or via a clear path in the foreseeable future; long-term, trusted client relationships that are based on recurring services and transactions; differentiated solutions that deliver value to our clients through integration and innovation; and strong management to execute strategies in a disciplined manner. Consistent with this focus, we continue to operate our business in accordance with the following strategic framework:

*•*Client Relationship Value. We plan to increase the number and breadth of our client relationships by, among other actions: continuing to integrate our products and services; introducing new products and services that are aligned with market needs; combining products and services to deliver enhanced, integrated value propositions; and delivering quality service and support for our clients.

• Innovation. We seek to be an innovation leader, utilizing our assets and capabilities to be at the forefront of our industry and enable our clients to deliver best-in-class results.

• Operational Effectiveness. We believe we can further improve the quality of our client delivery while reducing our costs by using the opportunities created by our size and scale.

*•*Portfolio Management. We expect to acquire businesses when we identify: a compelling strategic need, such as a product, service or technology that helps meet client demand; an opportunity to change industry dynamics; a way to achieve business scale that enables competition and operational efficiency; or similar considerations. We expect to divest businesses that are not in line with our market, product or financial strategies.

• Capital Discipline. We intend to make capital allocation decisions that offer the best prospects for our long-term growth and profitability, which may include, among other matters: internal investment; repayment of debt; repurchases of our own shares; or acquisitions.

Servicing the Market

The financial technology industry is highly dynamic, with new innovations entering the market and driving the expectations of our clients globally. The markets for our solutions have specific needs and requirements, with strong emphasis placed by clients on quality, security, service reliability, timely introduction of new capabilities and features, flexibility and value. This requires us to continue our focus on product and service delivery, integration and innovation to meet and exceed the specific needs of our clients. We believe that our financial strength and specialized market knowledge enable us to support our clients to meet their changing preferences. In addition, we believe that our focus on quality, innovation, client service and our commitment of substantial resources to training and technical support helps us to identify and fulfill the needs of our clients.

Product Development

To meet the changing technology needs of our clients, we continually develop, maintain and enhance our products and systems. Our development and technology operations apply the expertise of multiple teams to design, develop and maintain specialized products and processing systems. Our products and solutions are designed to meet the preferences and diverse requirements of the international, national, regional or local market-specific merchant and financial services environments of our clients. In developing our products, we use current software development principles, such as service-oriented architecture, to create efficiencies, and we stress interaction with and responsiveness to the needs of our clients. In addition, we use our data and artificial intelligence (“AI”) responsibly to help us create new products and services and to enhance existing ones. We currently use AI in a variety of ways, including to enable higher quality customer service experiences, platform analytics, and fraud mitigation across a number of solutions.

Resources

Our business depends on a variety of resources to operate including products and services provided to us by third parties. For example, we rely on our human capital resources for product development (including product design and coding), sales, operations (including customer service, technology support, security and compliance) and management; access to financial and telecommunication networks; computers, servers, mainframes, microchips and other computer equipment; and Clover and other POS devices. We periodically review our resource requirements and sources, as well as our relationships with key vendors, to best meet the needs of our business including global sourcing efforts and alternate supplier resourcing. We believe we have access to the resources necessary for our current business needs. More information regarding supply chain risks can be found under the heading “Competitive and Business Risks*”* in the Risk Factors section of this report and our human capital resources can be found below under the heading “Human Capital.”

Intellectual Property

We regard our hardware, software, transaction processing services and related products as proprietary, and we use a combination of patent, copyright, trademark and trade secret laws, internal security practices, employee confidentiality and assignment agreements, and third-party non-disclosure agreements to protect our intellectual property assets. Our patents cover innovations relating to numerous financial software and hardware products and services, and we continue, where appropriate, to seek and secure patents with respect to our ongoing innovations. We believe that we possess all proprietary rights necessary to conduct our business.

Competition

The market for technology products and services is fragmented, highly competitive, and served by a multitude of large and small businesses. Our principal competitors include other large, integrated providers of financial services technology and payment systems, data processing affiliates of large companies, processing centers owned or operated as user cooperatives, financial institutions, merchant acquirers, ISOs, ISVs, payments companies and payment network operators. Our competitors also include global and local IT product and services companies and payment service providers and processors. We expect competition to continue to increase as new companies enter our markets and existing competitors expand or consolidate their product lines and services. Some of these competitors possess substantial financial, sales and marketing resources and can compete with us in various ways, including through the use of integrated product offerings and through pricing and long-standing relationships. Depending on the product or service, competitive factors may include quality, security, innovation, breadth or novelty of features and functionality, client satisfaction, market opportunity, integration, reliability, agility, global reach, multiple distribution channels, service reliability and performance standards, timely introduction of new products and features, platform scalability and flexibility, and value. We believe that we compete favorably in each of these categories. Additional information about competition in our segments is provided below.

Merchant

The products and services in our Merchant segment compete with merchant acquirers and financial institutions that provide acquiring and processing services to businesses on their own. In many cases, our alliance and commercial partners, such as ISOs and ISVs, compete against each other. We also compete with merchant services providers and, in a number of countries outside of the U.S., our Merchant segment competes with a growing number of local and regional providers. In addition, payment networks and large technology, media and other integrated payments software providers are increasingly offering products and services that compete with our suite of merchant acquiring solutions.

Financial

The products and services in our Financial segment compete with large, diversified software and service companies, independent suppliers of software products, businesses that offer consumer payment solutions and a number of payment and card issuer processors. In addition to traditional payments competitors, large technology, media and other emerging financial technology providers are increasingly seeking to provide alternative payment and financing solutions. Existing and potential financial institution and other corporate clients could also develop and use their own in-house systems or custom-designed solutions instead of our products and services. In addition, we compete with vendors that offer similar transaction processing products and services to financial institutions.

Government Regulation

Our operations, and the products and services that we offer, are subject to various U.S. federal, state and local regulations, as well as regulations outside the U.S. We are also subject to non-government-issued rules and requirements, such as those promulgated by various payment networks. Failure to comply with these rules and regulations may result in the suspension or revocation of licenses or registrations, the limitation, suspension or termination of service and the imposition of civil and criminal penalties, including fines. We may also be required, among other things, to make significant additional investments to comply with rules and regulations, to modify our products or services or the manner in which they are provided, or to limit or change the amount or types of revenue we are able to generate.

Financial Institution Regulations. Because a number of our businesses provide services to regulated financial institutions, we are considered to be a significant service provider under the Bank Service Company Act and, as a result, we are subject to examination by the U.S. Federal Banking Agencies, which are comprised of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. We are regulated based on the uniform principles, standards, and guidance created by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (“FFIEC”). The FFIEC is a formal interagency body empowered to standardize and promote uniformity in supervision of financial institutions. The member agencies of the FFIEC include the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the National Credit Union Administration, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (“CFPB”), which are empowered to conduct rule-making and supervision related to, and enforcement of, federal consumer financial laws, some of which apply to products and services offered by our clients.

In the U.S., we are also subject to the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, which, among other things, and in conjunction with the Federal Reserve Board’s Regulation II, caps debit interchange rates for certain debit and prepaid card issuers; prohibits card issuers and payment networks from restricting the ability of merchants to direct the routing of debit card transactions; requires all debit card issuers in the U.S. to participate in at least two unaffiliated debit payment card networks; prohibits payment card networks from restricting debit and prepaid card issuers from contracting with other payment

card networks; and generally prohibits network exclusivity arrangements for debit card and prepaid card issuers. These regulations impact our card processing businesses and our clients’ ability to generate revenue.

Certain of our subsidiaries hold payment institution or electronic money licenses. These subsidiaries are subject to regulation and oversight in the jurisdictions in which they operate, and may be required to meet minimum capital maintenance requirements or other obligations. In addition, we are subject to regulation by the Georgia Department of Banking and Finance in connection with our subsidiary’s Merchant Acquirer Limited Purpose Bank charter in Georgia. In addition, several of our subsidiaries outside of the U.S. provide services such as merchant terminal leasing, debit processing, acquiring, issuing, factoring and settlement that make them subject to regulation by financial services supervisory agencies, including the Financial Conduct Authority (“FCA”) and Payment Systems Regulator in the United Kingdom (“U.K.”), the Federal Financial Supervision Agency in Germany, the National Bank of Poland, the Central Bank of the Netherlands, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Central Bank of Brazil, the Central Bank of Uruguay, the Monetary Authority of Singapore, Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM) and Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre.

Association and Network Rules. We are subject to the rules of various payment networks, such as Visa and Mastercard. In order to provide processing services, a number of our subsidiaries are registered with Visa and/or Mastercard as service providers for member institutions. A number of our subsidiaries outside the U.S. are direct members or associate members of Visa and Mastercard for purposes of conducting merchant acquiring. Various subsidiaries are also processor level members of other debit and electronic benefits transaction networks or are otherwise subject to various network rules in connection with processing services and other services we provide. As such, we are subject to applicable card association, network and national scheme rules that could subject us to fines or penalties. We are subject to network operating rules promulgated by Nacha relating to payment transactions processed by us using the ACH network and to various federal and state laws regarding such operations, including laws pertaining to electronic benefits transactions.

Privacy and Cybersecurity Regulations. We provide services that involve the collection and processing of significant amounts of data, including personal data financial data and other sensitive data which subject our offerings to various federal, state, local and foreign privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations, as well as association and network privacy and cybersecurity rules, which govern, among other things, the collection, processing, storage, deletion, use and disclosure of personal information. These laws and rules contain a variety of obligations including the safeguarding of personal information, the provision of notices and use and disclosure rights. The regulations and rules are complex and evolving and can provide for significant penalties or the suspension or termination of our registrations or certifications for non-compliance, furthermore many of these regulations and rules are still evolving and could be interpreted in ways that could impact our business.

In the U.S., we are subject to various federal and state privacy and cybersecurity laws and regulations. The U.S. Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (“GLBA”) requires financial institutions to explain their information sharing practices to their customers and to safeguard customer data. In some circumstances, we are subject to GLBA and we have privacy and information security obligations to our clients who are regulated by the GLBA. In certain circumstances, we are subject to the U.S. Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”), which governs the use and disclosure of protected health information in healthcare treatment, payment and operations by covered entities and their business associates. We are also subject to the Federal Trade Commission Act which empowers the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) to prohibit unfair and deceptive practices, including those related to privacy and cybersecurity. In addition to the Federal Trade Commission Act, the FTC, along with the CFPB, is responsible for overseeing and enforcing the privacy and information security provisions over certain aspects of GLBA and the Fair Credit Reporting Act (“FCRA”), each of which is applicable to our businesses in certain circumstances. We also have obligations under various state privacy and cybersecurity laws, such as the California Consumer Privacy Act, which, among other things, give consumers more control over the personal information businesses hold about them.

In the European Union (“E.U.”) and the U.K., we are subject to the General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”), which impose a comprehensive approach to personal data protection and include penalties for non-compliance of up to the greater of 20 million Euro (or 17.5 million British Pound) or four percent of a company’s consolidated global revenue. There are numerous additional privacy laws and regulations that apply to our businesses around the world which also provide for significant penalties. Some of these data protection laws, including in the E.U., Brazil, India, United Arab Emirates and China, impose requirements regarding data rights and security and either prohibit the international transfer of personal data or restrict such transfers absent lawfully recognized transfer mechanisms. There are also additional obligations that apply to us by virtue of the fact that we provide services in the financial services industry or are considered to be providing critical infrastructure to our clients including the SOCI Act in Australia, the EBA Outsourcing Requirements and the Digital Operational Resilience Act in the E.U. and the CERT-In obligations in India.

Additional information about privacy and cybersecurity regulation applicable to our business can be found in the Risk Factors section of this report under the heading “Regulatory and Compliance Risks”.

Money Transmission and Payment Instrument Licensing and Regulations. We are subject to various U.S. federal, state and foreign laws and regulations governing money transmission and the issuance and sale of payment instruments, including some of our prepaid products. In the U.S., most states license money transmitters and issuers of payment instruments. Many states exercise authority over the operations of our services related to money transmission and payment instruments and, as part of this authority, subject us to periodic examinations. Many states require money transmitters, issuers of payment instruments and their agents to comply with federal and state anti-money laundering laws and regulations and often require the licensee to maintain certain levels of net worth.

Credit Reporting and Debt Collections Regulations. TeleCheck, our check acceptance business, is subject to FCRA and various similar state laws. The collection business within our subsidiary TRS Recovery Services, Inc. (“TRS”) is subject to the U.S. federal Fair Debt Collection Practices Act and various similar state laws. TRS maintains licenses in a number of states in order to engage in collection in those states. TeleCheck and TRS are also subject to regulation, supervision and examination from the CFPB. In addition, several of our subsidiaries are subject to comparable local laws regarding collection activities and obtaining credit reports and our U.K. branch described above also holds FCA permissions for debt collection activities.

Unfair Trade Practice Regulations. We and our clients are subject to various federal, state and foreign laws prohibiting unfair or deceptive trade practices. Various regulatory enforcement agencies, including the FTC and state attorneys general, have authority to take action against parties that engage in unfair or deceptive trade practices or violate other laws, rules and regulations. If we process payments for a merchant or other client in violation of laws, rules and regulations, we could be subject to enforcement actions and incur losses and liabilities that may impact our business.

Anti-Money Laundering and Sanctions Regulations. We are subject to anti-money laundering laws and regulations, including the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act (“BSA”). Among other things, the BSA requires money services businesses, such as money transmitters, issuers of money orders and official checks, and providers of prepaid access, to develop and implement anti-money laundering programs. Our acquiring businesses outside the U.S. are subject to anti-money laundering laws and regulations in the countries where they operate. Our Money Network Financial, LLC subsidiary provides prepaid access for various open loop prepaid programs for which it is the program manager and therefore must meet the requirements of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

We are also subject to certain economic and trade sanctions programs that are administered by the U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (“OFAC”), which prohibit or restrict transactions to or from, or dealings with, specified countries, governments, individuals and entities that are specially designated nationals of those countries, including narcotics traffickers and terrorists or terrorist organizations. Other group entities may be subject to additional local sanctions requirements in other relevant jurisdictions.

Similar anti-money laundering, counter terrorist financing and proceeds of crime laws apply to movements of currency and payments through electronic transactions and to dealings with persons specified in lists maintained by the country equivalents to OFAC lists in several other countries and require specific data retention obligations to be observed by intermediaries in the payment process. Our businesses in those jurisdictions are subject to those data retention obligations.

Communications Laws. We are subject to various federal and state laws that govern telephone calls and the issuance of text messages to clients and consumers in the U.S. as well as to regulations that impose requirements on marketing emails sent to U.S residents. Our international subsidiaries are subject to equivalent laws in applicable jurisdictions.

Indirect Regulatory Requirements. A number of our clients are subject to various regulations and compliance obligations that do not apply directly to us but impact the services that we provide to our clients. To remain competitive, we have invested, and expect to continue to invest, significant resources to develop and update our products and services to assist our clients to meet various compliance obligations. In addition, independent auditors annually review many of our operations to provide internal control evaluations for our clients and their auditors.

Human Capital

The Talent and Compensation Committee of our Board of Directors assists the Board of Directors in establishing our compensation philosophy and strategy and overseeing our human capital management strategy which includes maintaining a culture committed to attracting, developing and retaining top talent, fostering innovation, and promoting employee engagement, safety and well-being. As of December 31, 2024, we had over 38,000 employees worldwide.

Development and Retention

We are committed to creating a high-performance culture that consistently delivers excellence for our clients and long-term value for our shareholders while providing a workplace experience for our employees that values collaboration, innovation and

diversity. Career development and internal mobility are important aspects of our value proposition for employees. We provide employees with numerous training and development opportunities, including through an e-learning platform specifically geared toward global technology associates; our Leading Women program, designed to accelerate the professional growth of female top talent across each of our global regions; our Leading Fiserv program, designed to develop critical leadership skills for frontline managers; our Vision to Results leadership program, focused on driving enterprise goals; and an online platform that provides global access to over 10,000 learning opportunities. Internal mobility is generally our preferred approach for filling open positions and fostering career advancement for our employees. To encourage internal mobility, we maintain a sustainable internal talent pipeline, increasing associate retention, job satisfaction and personal and professional growth opportunities.

We have adopted a pay-for-performance philosophy that is designed to recognize performance and reward achievement of our strategic business objectives and financial results. Total compensation consists of a competitive base pay and annual incentive opportunity typically delivered in a mix of cash and equity that is designed to promote retention and reward the attainment of defined performance goals. We are committed to providing fair pay to our employees regardless of gender, race, ethnicity or any other protected characteristic, and we conduct pay audits to track, measure and evaluate employee compensation. In addition, throughout the year, we celebrate employee contributions and achievements through a peer-based global recognition program that enables recognition and financial rewards.

Employee Engagement

We value employee engagement and feedback. Throughout the year, we engage with our employees through events such as lunch-and-learns, quarterly all-hands meetings, town halls, leadership meetings and other forums. We encourage managers to meet regularly with their teams and encourage skip-level discussions.

To assess employee engagement, we periodically collect employee feedback through employee engagement surveys, including annual enterprise-wide surveys and issue-specific surveys. These surveys cover a variety of topics, such as engagement, well-being, client experience, communication, teamwork, manager effectiveness, trust and inclusion. In addition to assessing engagement, the survey results enable us to gain insight into employee perspectives and issues which we use to enhance processes, set priorities and respond to associate concerns.

In 2024, 94% of our associates participated in our engagement survey. The categories in which we were ranked highest were “operational excellence” and “manager effectiveness”.

Safety and Well-Being

We are committed to the safety of our workforce and maintain a global safety program that is designed to protect the safety and well-being of our employees in the workplace, minimize injury and accident frequency and severity, minimize loss to property, equipment and operational disruption, and enable greater associate satisfaction and productivity.

We are also committed to providing comprehensive and competitive benefits to our associates that are responsive to their physical, financial, social and emotional needs. Our benefit offerings include a variety of medical and dental plan choices, mental health and counseling programs, caregiver support programs, enhanced family forming and planning resources, and paid time off. We control the cost of health care benefits for our employees despite the increased cost of such benefits to the company. Investing in our associates in this way helps us retain top talent and demonstrates our commitment to our employees, our most important asset.

Available Information

Our website address is www.fiserv.com. We are not including the information provided on our website as a part of, or incorporating it by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make available free of charge (other than an investor’s own internet access charges) through our website our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to these reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the Securities and Exchange Commission.