First Data Corporation began as First Data Resources (FDR), a company that provided credit card data processing for member banks in 1971.
In 1980 American Express Information Services Corporation (ISC) bought 80% of FDR. American Express spun off FDR in 1992. The same year the new company went public.
By 1988 First Data was providing transaction processing services in the United States, U.K., Australia, Mexico, and Canada.
In 2007 First Data was bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts. First Data subsequently became a private company and its shares were pulled from the New York Stock Exchange. Within two months of the KKR acquisition, First Data laid off 1,700 employees.
Today First Data Corporation is a global payment processing company. Its portfolio includes merchant transaction processing services, credit, debit, payroll and other cash offerings, credit reporting, internet commerce, and mobile payment solutions.
In January 2019, Fiserv acquired First Data and will rebrand all parts of First Data to the Fiserv name.
First Data has 22,000 employees and had $12.05 billion in revenue in 2017. First Data/Fiserv have consolidated its headquarters operations and moved to New York, New York.
