Bank Of America Merchant Services Lays Off 10% Of Staff

Bank of America Merchant Services laid off about 10 percent of its staffers last week, with sources saying that the cuts are the result of restructuring.

The Wall Street Journal reported that the joint venture, which has operated in conjunction with First Data Corp. since 2009, employed about 2,200 people. It let go about 250 employees last week.

A spokesperson explained that last Wednesday, BOA “announced to employees a restructuring designed to accelerate our business strategy and better meet merchants’ evolving expectations in this increasingly digital era.”

Merchant Services helps businesses handle debit  and credit card transactions. These types of firms often collect a fee for transaction processing and a commission on equipment leases and sales, with merchant processors collecting about $18.15 billion in merchant fees in 2016.

In 2013, Bank of America Merchant Services was the top U.S. merchant acquirer by Visa and Mastercard purchase volume, with $517 billion in such payments and 654,000 merchant outlets. While that purchase-volume metric had grown to $546 billion by last year, Bank of America slipped to the second-largest acquirer by Visa and Mastercard purchase volume after J.P. Morgan Chase’s Chase Merchant Services, which had more than $800 billion in such payments.

Bank of America Merchant Services is now trying to bolster the digital services it provides to merchants, either through its own technology or via partnerships. Last year, it expanded into Europe, serving global clients with cross-border merchant services.

And earlier this year, the unit teamed up with Bypass, the developer of cloud-based restaurant and multi-site food management systems, to help arenas, sporting venues, corporate and college campuses, hospital cafeterias and other contract food and beverage operators run their concessions more efficiently through a new unified, digital commerce solution.