Global Payments Puts the Pandemic Behind It As It Develops BNPL And Crypto Services

Global Payments Inc. Monday morning reported continued recovery from the pandemic’s impact along with new developments the Atlanta-based company says will deepen its ventures in buy now, pay later, cryptocurrency, and support for banks overseas.

Global chief executive Jeff Sloan also said the processor has exited its operations in Russia in response to that country’s invasion of Ukraine, an operation that began in February. “We have absorbed the expected revenue impact” from that move, Sloan told equity analysts during a call to discuss the Global’s first-quarter results. “Our first quarter has us on track to deliver record results in 2022,” Sloan added.

Sloan touted the continuing benefit of Global’s move to cloud-supported card-issuing services through Amazon Web Services, a link the company forged in August 2020. Global now has 39 “active prospects” in its pipeline, Sloan told analysts on the call, in addition to “over 100 client migrations” that have already been handled. Global supports both issuing and acquiring operations for banks, independent sales organizations, and merchants. “Simply put, the public cloud sells,” Sloan said.

In debit cards, Sloan was enthusiastic about Global’s February signing of Spain’s Caixa Bank, which he said is “one of the largest debit card issuers across Europe.” The migration of Caixa’s portfolio will begin towards the end of next year, Sloan said. Global has had a longstanding relationship with the bank, doing business with it at least since 2010.

In two hot markets, crypto and BNPL, Sloan said Global will support cryptocurrency for the first time in a deal to process the digital money for PayPal Holdings Inc. And with respect to the rapidly growing buy now, pay later installment trend, Global launched its “BNPL as a Service” offering during the quarter, Sloan said. “We expect to drive significant growth beyond the 2 billion transactions [annually] we already drive through BNPL,” he added.

For the quarter, Global reported net revenue of $1.95 billion, up 8% year-over-year, a number that “exceeded our expectations,” said chief financial officer Paul Todd, who attributed much of the growth to software. “Our software business will be a tailwind for us,” he added. The company’s merchant-solutions unit reported $1.34 billion in revenue, a 16% increase, including a 50% jump in point-of-sale software revenue. The company’s other division, issuer solutions, delivered $443 million in revenue, up 1%.

For now, the company clearly expects no further dampening effects from coronavirus outbreaks. “We expect continued pandemic recovery,” Todd said.