Today In Data: Big Shifts, Long Holdouts And The March Of Progress

The big news of the week, of course, is the announcement that Fiserv will be buying First Data Corp. in an all-stock deal slated to close in the second half of the year. Sometimes big shifts happen suddenly and hit the headlines. Other changes – finally killing the check once and for all, particularly in B2B transactions – is the slow work of years. Still other changes are quick but nearly invisible, like the rise of mobile card services.

Data:

$22 billion: What Fiserv is paying to purchase First Data.

85.6 percent: MCS users who purchase groceries with the MCS-linked cards.

51 percent: Share of B2B payments made by check.

34 percent: Share of card users using MCS to set spending limits at certain stores.

6 percent: Share of accountants who aren’t settling client bills via digital payments.