Chris Baron, Senior Vice President, Canada, discusses Global Payments’ approach to innovation and staying at the forefront of technology evolution
Global Payments is a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions.
The company operates both a merchant solutions business and issuer solutions business, positioning it to offer products and capabilities to clients across the payments ecosystem – from small and medium-sized merchants to large national and multinational enterprises and financial institutions. The merchant solutions business provides end-to-end, customised payment and commerce software and services to help merchants run their business from the front-of-the-house to the back-of-the-house more effectively. The issuer solutions business, TSYS, offers a complete ecosystem for consumer and commercial issuing solutions for the modern financial institution or fintech.
Chris Baron, Senior Vice President, Canada, shares how Global Payments’ four strategic pillars – software driven, e-commerce/omnichannel, faster-growth markets and B2B – inform its approach to innovation.
“Global Payments was a first mover in owned software technologies, implementing its technology-enabled, software-driven strategy when other providers were still focused on hardware,” he explains. “This strategy paid off, enabling Global Payments to move aggressively into embedding payments into cloud software to capitalise on these trends.”
These pillars have also allowed Global Payments to tap into underpenetrated markets.
“As companies digitise more of their operations, they want to engage technology companies like ours who can help them run and grow their business with comprehensive platforms. Payment processing is now just one of many ways we help businesses. Our commerce enablement tools such as omnichannel solutions, payroll and more, also help answer their need for business efficiency and continuity,” Baron notes.
Geographically, Global Payments is also expanding to faster-growth markets. The company’s acquisition of EVO Payments, for example, expands its presence in attractive markets including Poland, Germany, Greece and Chile.
“The ability to provide an infrastructure on-demand model enables technical resiliency at the scale which Global Payments operates today, while at the same time supporting its own aspirations around market expansion,” Baron continues.
With the addition of EVO, Global Payments now serves 4.6 million merchant accounts and 1,500 financial institutions. Describing the company as a ‘disruptor well positioned for continued growth and outstanding performance,’ Baron showcases how Global Payments’ faster-growth strategy is key to enabling its clients to do business with their customers around the globe.
“For example, Global Payments engaged AWS and Google to build cloud-connected platforms for its issuer and merchant businesses, respectively,” he recounts. “Global Payments’ partnership with Google is creating a more seamless digital experience for our merchant clients, so they can run and grow their businesses more effectively and efficiently.”
Thanks to its cloud investments, Global Payments is democratising technology for businesses that might not otherwise be able to access the latest advances. This helps level the playing field for businesses, so they can effectively compete in a digitising, worldwide economy. To do so, heavy investments ensure it maintains its technology leadership in the industry, spending close to US$2 billion annually.
The company continues to see the four pillars of their go-forward strategy as the biggest growth opportunity from today through the next three to five years.
