The payments processor on Tuesday (May 5) released earnings showing organic revenue down 4% for the first quarter of the year, with the company’s merchant solutions revenue down 1% and financial solutions down 6%.
Speaking during an earnings call, CEO Mike Lyons stressed that the company is “firmly in execution mode” under its “ONE Fiserv” strategic plan.
He said the company has been aggressively hiring senior leadership from outside the organization to lead its merchant and financial divisions. Among those hires is Adam Hyde, a 24-year veteran of JPMorgan who joined Fiserv last month as chief operations officer for merchant solutions.
That unit provides products and services including merchant acquiring and digital commerce services, mobile payment services and security and fraud protection solutions.
“The unprecedented pace of change in banking and payments is creating an extraordinary opportunity for us,” Lyons said during the call.
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A primary driver for the company’s Merchant Solutions segment is the expansion of its Clover platform into new verticals. In March, Fiserv introduced “Practice Pay” for the healthcare sector and a new offering for professional services.
Lyons noted that the healthcare market represents a “massive” opportunity where bank partners have explicitly requested more sophisticated technology.
Beyond new products, the company is monitoring shifting consumer habits. These include “the impact of various environmental factors including higher gas prices from the conflict in the Middle East which if sustained can impact the mix of consumer spending,” said Lyons.
The company’s Financial Solutions business continues to face hurdles, specifically “higher-than-normal” attrition in its core banking segment.
“That attrition, as you know, is the result of actions taken over the last several years, especially around the client service front, and we’re confident we have the right fixes and addresses,” Lyons said.
“The way we’re addressing it is the right thing to do. And while there’s significant work to do, as I said today, we feel like we’re bending that curve in a positive way and contributing to that is we’ve significantly increased our client coverage efforts, which was an ask of our they came directly from the clients.”
To combat this, Fiserv is leaning heavily into artificial intelligence to improve client support. The company reported that the time required to resolve client inquiries has dropped 27% year over year, with “high impact client incidents” down 60%.
For the first quarter, Fiserv reported adjusted revenue of $4.68 billion, a 2.4% decrease from the prior year.