First Annapolis: Top Global Merchant Bank Card Acquirers
In the latest issue of its monthly Navigator newsletter (subscribe), First Annapolis has provided its second annual update to its list of the world's largest merchant bank card acquirers. Prepared by Charles Marc Abbey and Olga Czabaj from a variety of data sources, the list is based on acquirers who are doing business in one of the four large acquiring markets in the world: US, UK, Canada and France.
The authors noted some important factors that came out of preparing this year's list:
- Citibank fell from the list - as both its US and European merchant acquiring businesses were sold during 2005 (to FDC and Nova/euroConex respectively).
- Heartland Payment Systems had the biggest ranking move upward as its organic growth took it from #20 to #15.
- Concentration is extreme - with the largest acquirer (Chase) being over ten times the size of #20 (Société Générale ). And the biggest acquirers continue to get bigger as they're best able to compete for acquisitions when they become available.
For access to the full list of the top 20 acquirers, sign up for Navigator on the First Annapolis web site.
Add your comment... (note that all comments are reviewed before they're published)