as nyse fdc industry financial services founded 1971 1971 headquarters atlanta georgia united states key people frank bisignano chairman & ceo products merchant services revenue us 11.451 billion number of employees 23 000 2015 1 website www.firstdata.com first data corporation is a global payment technology solutions company headquartered in atlanta georgia united states . the company s star interbank network offers pin secured debit acceptance at atm and retail locations . first data has a global footprint of 6 million merchants the largest in the payments industry . 2 the company handles 45 % of all us credit and debit transactions including handling prepaid gift card processing for many us brands such as starbucks . 2 3 it processes over 1 trillion in card transactions annually with an 80 % market share in gas and groceries . 4 first data has also provided shopping metrics for national news networks such as usa today espn the new york times and vox . 5 6 7 8 in october 2015 first data sold 160 million shares in the new york stock exchange in its ipo in order to pay down its debt . 9 the company has been recognized by the uk s information commissioner s office as one of the companies whose binding corporate rules for data privacy are aligned with the eu s data protection directive . 10 11 contents 1 history 1.1 expansion 1.2 under frank bisignano 2 headquarters 3 philanthropy 4 references 5 external links history edit first data corporation was incorporated in 1971 . in 1980 american express information services corporation isc bought 80 % of first data . the remaining 20 % was purchased in 5 % increments each subsequent year until june 1983 . first data corporation spun off from american express and went public in 1992 . in 1995 the company merged with first financial management corp. ffmc and was then organized into three major business units serving card issuers merchants and consumers . western union became part of first data as a result of the merger with ffmc . expansion edit from 2001 through 2005 a period of expansion occurred as first data acquired companies around the globe and in the us including in 2001 the acquisition of paysys international and their visionplus payment software system . visionplus was followed by a 6.6 billion merger with concord efs inc. in 2004 which added the star network and pin based debit acceptance at more than 1.9 million atm and retail locations . additional acquisitions and strategic relationships included govone eoneglobal paymap inc. and taxware . nevertheless first data eventually divested closed down or absorbed these businesses . on january 26 2006 first data announced its intention to spin off western union into an independent publicly traded company through a tax free spin off of 100 % of western union to first data shareholders . the spin off occurred as planned on september 29 2006 . 12 on april 2 2007 it was announced that kohlberg kravis roberts kkr had entered an agreement to acquire first data 13 in one of the largest leveraged buy outs in history 14 and on october 1 2007 kkr officially took over the first data corporation . ric duques retired and michael capellas previously the ceo of mci inc. the president of hewlett packard company and also the chairman ceo of the compaq computer corporation was appointed ceo . as a privately owned company first data s stock was taken off the new york stock exchange on september 24 2007 . however the company s lbo was financed with 24 billion in debt and it remains heavily leveraged . 14 in june 2014 first data raised a historic 3.5 billion private placement . 1.2 billion of the placement came from kkr ; however the majority 2.3 billion was from hedge funds mutual funds and institutions . 15 with this action the company reduced total debt by 3.3 billion improving net leverage by 1.3 turns and significantly reducing annual cash interest payments . 16 17 the company continues to maintain investor relations pages on its web site and to publish quarterly financial results . within two months of the kkr acquisition the company laid off 1 700 employees across north america europe and australia about 6 % of its workforce . 18 first data provided go tag contactless and mobile payment technology stickers to delegates and media representatives at the 2008 democratic national convention in denver who used them to buy food and beverages . these stickers possessed nfc chips which were read by first data scanners which through its back end system deducted the purchase sum from the go tag id s balance . 19 20 first data also provided the trusted service manager that provisioned accounts to the new mobile google wallet system . 21 22 first data entered the ireland market in a joint venture with allied irish banks plc named aib merchant services on january 18 2008 . 23 first data also acquired icici bank s merchant services business in 2009 for 4 billion indian rupees 80 million usd . 24 first data and kkr vetted more than 60 startups before in october 2013 announcing it had acquired pos startup clover 25 cardless mobile loyalty startup perka . 26 and gyft in 2014 . 27 in march 2010 joe forehand took over as chairman and interim ceo . 28 in september that same year jonathan judge assumed those roles until his early retirement in january 2013 29 after which edward labry covered the interim post . 30 under frank bisignano edit in april 2013 first data s board of directors announced that former jpmorgan chase co coo frank bisignano had been named chief executive officer of the company . in march 2014 bisignano assumed the role of chairman . 31 upon taking office bisignano launched an equity ownership plan for all 24 000 of first data owner associates . 32 bisignano promoted notable additions to the company s staff such as himanshu patel guy chiarello cindy armine klein andrew gelb adam rosman carmen menendez puerto joseph plumeri gretchen garrigues christopher augustin and michael manos . 33 34 35 36 37 in early 2014 first data s star atm network adopted the visa and mastercard common application ids for emv compliant debit transactions . 38 since joining bisignano has tried to transform first data into a provider of new technology for small and medium sized businesses . 15 in june 2014 first data introduced the insightics solution for small and medium size businesses . insightics is a cloud based software that enables small and medium size businesses to monitor key business metrics . 39 40 first data created insightics with palantir . 15 in august 2014 first data expanded its presence in brazil with bin the company s acquiring solution developed specifically for the local market . 41 in september 2014 first data announced it would provide encryption technology for apple pay . 15 apple pay allows payment with a single touch . with its integration into first data s star network the company became a token service provider supporting safe pos transactions in apple pay . such transactions are used in venues such as all mcdonald s restaurants in the us . 42 in october 2014 first data announced the enhanced transarmor solution for small businesses . first data s transarmor solution protects payment card data throughout the transaction process incorporating several security and compliance products into one multi layered solution . 43 in late 2014 first data announced its collaboration with capgemini to develop new solutions based on first data s accessplus and visionplus products planning to offer new technologies in the second quarter of 2015 . 44 the company also announced its partnership with verifone wherein merchants using integrated point of sale systems that process payments will have a security option when using terminals made by verifone systems inc. 45 in 2015 samsung announced its samsung pay mobile system in conjunction with first data . samsung pay uses nfc to make payments at pos systems that accept first data s technology . 46 in february 2015 first data reported its first profitable quarter in 29 quarters since its 2007 privatization . 47 in july 2015 first data acquired transaction wireless a provider of gift card solutions . 48 in september that year first data corporation acquired spree commerce an open source e commerce platform . details of the transaction were not disclosed . 49 in the biggest u.s. ipo of 2015 according to bloomberg first data planned to seek a minimum of 2.5 billion even up to 3.2 billion according to bloomberg or 3.7 billion according to the wall street journal . 50 51 52 in october that year first data sold 160 million shares for 16 apiece after offering them for 18 and 20 . 9 it raised 2.56 billion . according to bloomberg lowering first data s debt level will be an important step for the company because it will free up money to invest in the business . 53 headquarters edit while the official first data s headquarters are located in atlanta georgia 54 55 first data s principal executive offices are in new york city . first data s headquarters were located in greenwood village colorado . 56 57 in 2009 first data announced that it was moving its headquarters from greater denver to 5565 glenridge connector ne atlanta ga 30342 . 58 its original headquarters where the company remained based until 1992 were in omaha nebraska . philanthropy edit in october 2014 first data launched first data salutes . first data salutes is the company wide military engagement strategy aimed at helping the veteran owned business community and service members and their families transitioning to civilian careers . 59 in november 2014 bisignano was awarded the 4th annual hiring our heroes colonel michael endres leadership award for individual excellence in veteran employment . this award recognizes the dedication of bisignano and first data in addressing challenges faced by veterans and military spouses in their search for meaningful employment . 59 in 2014 first data was designated as a best place to work and earned 100 percent on the human rights foundation s annual scorecard on lgbt workplace equality . 60 in 2015 first data made a seven year 7 million commitment to the institute for veterans and military families at syracuse university to fund education research training and other opportunities for transitioning veterans entering the business community . 61 the company was listed on diversityinc s 25 noteworthy companies for 2015 . 62 references edit first data at a glance pdf . first data . first data . retrieved 6 november 2015 . a b flamm matthew . apple pay pays off for first data . crain s. crain s. retrieved 12 february 2015 . first data s valuelink starbucks extend agreement . denver business journal . denver business journal . retrieved 5 march 2015 . carney michael . exclusive payments giant first data acquires gyft in an effort to bring digital gift cards to the masses . pando daily . pando daily . retrieved 5 march 2015 . malcolm hadley . prolonged holiday shopping boosts season sales . usa today . usa today . retrieved 5 march 2015 . rovell darren . analysis 3.1 percent growth in zona . espn . espn . retrieved 5 march 2015 . d innocenzio anne . sales for holiday shopping season come down to the wire . the new york times . the new york times . retrieved 5 march 2015 . yglesias matthew . super bowl xlix seems to have been a bit of an economic bust . vox . vox . retrieved 5 march 2015 . a b barinka alex. first data albertsons revise ipo ambitions as investors balk . bloomberg . bloomberg . retrieved 15 october 2015 . kennedy lindsey . first data gets all clear to move customer