FIS-Worldpay’s 3 billion merger a sure sign scale is paramount in payments

The closure of a $43 billion deal between FIS and Worldpay last week – the biggest deal in the payments M&A space to date – is a sign that consolidation pressure is building in the space.

“With the introduction of instant payments, electronic payments have exploded,” says Jerry Norton, vice-president, financial services, at IT and business process services company CGI.

“But to gain market share, payment providers require scale. One of the quickest and cheapest ways of doing this is to acquire or merge with a company as opposed to developing new and expensive technology themselves.