First Data 2014 Annual Report Download - page 8

In the Merchant Solutions segment, the card payment networks—VISA, MasterCard, and issuers/networks—American Express and Discover—are
increasingly offering products and services that compete with our suite of solutions.
 Merchant Solutions’ revenues and earnings are impacted by the volume of consumer usage of credit cards, debit cards, stored
value cards, and checks written at the POS. Merchant Solutions generally experiences increased POS activity during the traditional holiday shopping period
in the fourth quarter, the back-to-school buying period in the third quarter, and significant holidays.
 Revenues from external customers for the Merchant Solutions segment are substantially all earned in the
U.S. Merchant revenues outside of the U.S. are generally managed and reported by our International segment. Within the U.S., revenues from external
customers are spread across the country because Merchant Solutions has merchant customers and alliance partners across geographic regions and a large
percentage of its transactions occur at national merchants.
 We have recently made the following acquisitions and product developments.
CloverTM In 2012, we acquired Clover Network, Inc. (Clover), a provider of payment network services. In 2013 we unveiled Clover Station—a reliable and
easy to use POS and business management solution for merchants. With security and reliability coupled with the flexibility of cloud-based storage, Clover
Station is a comprehensive solution with respect to meeting SMB owners’ needs.
PerkaTM In 2013, we acquired Perka, Inc. (Perka), a mobile marketing and consumer loyalty platform that helps small to medium-sized merchants engage their
customers with location-based smartphone applications. Perka is an easy-to-use alternative to paper-punch cards. Business owners can deliver custom
messages and special offers directly to customers’ phones that encourage repeat visits and additional sales.
GyftTM In 2014, we acquired Gyft, Inc. (Gyft), the leading digital platform that enables consumers to buy, send, manage, and redeem gift cards using mobile
devices. Gyft’s exceptional capabilities, combined with our long-standing leadership in prepaid solutions, create a distinct combination in a rapidly growing
market for virtual gift cards.

The Financial Services segment is comprised of:
(1) credit and retail card processing services;
(2) debit network and processing services;
(3) output services; and
(4) other services including remittance processing.
The following table presents Financial Services information as a percentage of total segment and All Other and Corporate:

  
Segment revenues from external customers 20%
20%
20%
Segment EBITDA 28%
25%
25%
Assets (as of December 31) 12%
12%
12%
Financial Services provides issuer card and network solutions for credit, retail, and debit card
processing, debit network services (including the STAR network), output services to financial institutions and other organizations offering credit, debit, and
retail cards to consumers and businesses to manage customer cards. Financial Services also provides PIN debit network services through the STAR Network
which enables PIN-secured debit transaction acceptance at over 2 million automated teller machine (ATM) and retail device locations in the U.S. as of
December 31, 2014. Financial Services also offers payment management solutions for recurring bill payment and services to improve customer
communications, billing, online banking, and consumer bill payment. Revenue and profit growth comes primarily from an
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