Square and Stripe Competing

Evan Sohn | June 21, 2019

Well, we knew that 2019 was going to be an interesting year in the payment industry (see articles below). To start the year with a BANG, Fiserv and First Data agreed to join forces in a $22 billion merger. Last year, PayPal acquired iZettle. A year ago, Vantiv and Worldpay Group merged to create Worldpay. Is this all happening just to take on Square? Square maintained double-digit revenue growth last year. In last year’s third quarter, its revenue rose 51% YoY. According to The Wall Street Journal, Square’s performance is pressuring companies to react, with consolidation being a favored option.

Meanwhile Square introduced consumer lending, launched a debit card for businesses that offers a 2.75% discount in purchases from other Square sellers and launched its own Smart Terminal (aka its own Clover Mini and Poynt).

To top things off, Stripe announced another $100M raise setting their valuation at $22.5B – more than Fiserv + First Data.

What do you think about Square and Stripe competing with FiServ/FD?