 Industry Snapshot Welcome to I.S. I.S. Foolosophy Definitions Subscribers Online |
Transaction Processing
The Company
First Data Corp., despite its name, is widely acknowledged to be the second largest company in the data services industry. Fueled by acquisitions, First Data has planted itself firmly in the number two spot, just behind industry giant EDS, which has no exposure to the transaction processing market. First Data's exposure to the merchant business constitutes only a fifth of its total revenues, which the company touts as a strength in the event of a downturn in merchant transaction volume. Due to its ability to cross pollinate its services, such as selling check authorization and marketing services to merchants that it already does transaction processing work for, First Data can hold its own in the event of a price war. Its size is a key asset in a business that derives tremendous benefit from economies of scale. First Data is twice as large as its nearest transaction processing competitor (National Processing).
© Copyright 1995-2000, The Motley Fool. All rights reserved. This material is for personal use only. Republication and redissemination, including posting to news groups, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of The Motley Fool. The Motley Fool is a registered trademark and the "Fool" logo is a trademark of The Motley Fool, Inc. Contact Us
...
...
...
...
...
...