Marqeta is back

Hey!

FIS is buying Global Payments’ issuing business for $13.5 billion, which will make it the second-largest issuer processor after Fiserv. Based on the deal’s valuation multiples, Fiserv’s issuing business should be worth around $20 billion on a stand-alone basis.

And that brings me to Marqeta, a modern issuer processor with a $2 billion market cap, nearly $1 billion in cash, and no debt. The company went through a challenging period in 2022–2024, but I think it’s back on track and has what it takes to go after giants like Fiserv and FIS.

Adyen and Stripe are catching up to the big merchant acquirers by outgrowing them. I think Marqeta can do the same in issuer processing.

Let’s dive in!

Jevgenijs
p.s. if you have feedback, just reply to this email or ping me on X/Twitter

Last month (April 2025), FIS $FIS ( ▲ 0.54% ) and Global Payments $GPN ( ▲ 1.17% ) announced a historic deal: Global Payments will acquire Worldpay (which is jointly owned by FIS and the private equity firm GTCR), while FIS will take over Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions business. This deal will make FIS one of the largest issuer processors, and Global Payments one of the largest merchant acquirers globally.

FIS agreed to pay $13.5 billion for Global Payments’ Issuer Solution business, which represents a roughly 12× 2024 EV/EBITDA multiple, and a 10× 2025 EV/EBITDA multiple based on FIS’s estimates of “synergized EBITDA” in 2025.

A week later, Fiserv held Q1 2025 earnings call, and the company’s execs didn’t miss the opportunity to remind everyone that Fiserv’s issuer processing business is “nearly twice as large” as its closest competitor. This “competitor” is Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions.

Fiserv’s issuer processing business is “nearly twice as large” as Global Payments’ Issuer Solutions business when it comes to the number of cards on file (1.7 billion for Fiserv vs. 0.89 billion for Global Payments). However, in terms of revenue, the difference is not so stark.

Thus, in 2024, Fiserv’s issuing business generated $3.1 billion in revenue (representing 3% YoY growth), while Global Payments’ issuing business generated $2.5 billion in GAAP and $2.1 billion in adjusted revenue (also representing 3% YoY growth).

Fiserv does not disclose EBITDA numbers for its issuing business, but we can use Price / Sales multiple (yes, I know this is lame, but what else can I do here?). So FIS is acquiring Global Payments’ issuing business at a 6.4x P/S multiple ( $13.5 billion / $2.1 billion). This would value Fiserv’s issuing business at $19.8 billion.

…and this brings me to Marqeta, which, as of this writing, has a market cap of $2.15 billion and an Enterprise Value of $1.17 billion (no debt and almost a billion in cash). In 2024, the company generated $0.5 billion in revenue and expects 13-15% revenue growth in 2025.

Marqeta $MQ ( ▲ 2.45% ) went through hell in 2022-2024, but I think the company is back on track and has all the prerequisites to challenge Fiserv and FIS in the issuer processing business. Adyen and Stripe are catching up to the largest merchant acquirers by growing faster than them, and I believe Marqeta will follow a similar path in issuer processing. Needless to say, I believe this should eventually translate into growth in Marqeta’s stock price (not financial advice, please read the disclaimer).

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