Payments company Global Payments is leveraging gen AI and cloud technology to accelerate product development.

Global Payments’ gen AI code assist tool reduced code deployment time by nearly 10% in 2024, Chief Executive Cameron Bready said today during the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call.

BIGGER PICTURE: More gen AI programs are underway this year as Atlanta-based Global Payments looks to build on its 2024 momentum, Bready said. The company is also revving up app development in 2025 with 33 client-facing app pilots in the pipeline, he said.

As part of its growth strategy, Global Payments recently acquired a modern, real-time processing and orchestration platform, Bready said. The platform, which will be used to streamline global technology operations, is already being used in central Europe, and Global Payments plans to expand throughout Europe within 12 months, he said.

The platform was not named in the earnings call. However, Global Payments in June 2024 announced it had acquired U.K.-based card payment solutions provider Takepayments in a deal valued at $250 million.

Global Payments’ other 2025 tech goals include:

• Modernizing developer tools;
• Developing gen AI-supported software;
• Replacing its global support center software solution to modernize call flows;
• Expanding omnichannel and digital solutions; and
• Implementing an AI-powered knowledge management platform by yearend.

BY THE NUMBERS: During the quarter, Global Payments reported:

• $2.3 billion in adjusted net revenues, up 5% year over year;
• $1.8 billion in Merchant Solutions revenues, up 6% YoY;
• $542 million in Issuer Solutions revenues, up 2.2% YoY; and
• 809 core payments partners, up 13% YoY.

OF NOTE: The payments company entered into several partnership in Q4:

• Teamed with PayPal in October to expand checkout solutions;
• Added 165 individual and small enterprise banking partners across the United Kingdom, Asia, Australia and Latin America;
• Onboarded more than 2,000 merchants through its joint venture with Germany’s Commerzbank; and
• Achieved certification for its cloud authorization platform with Visa and Mastercard.

Global Payments also added 17 client to its digital platforms, Bready said, adding that by yearend the company had a record 885 million traditional accounts on file and a conversion pipeline of more than 70 million accounts that extend through 2026.

Several FIs in Q4 signed on to integrate Global Payments’ software and platforms, including:

• $952.8 billion NatWest;
• $217.5 billion Citizens;
• $190 billion KeyBank;
• $180.8 billion Navy Federal Credit Union; and
• $114.4 billion Virgin Money.

FORWARD LOOK: As the firm expands its product portfolio, Global Payments is also focused on

consolidating existing solutions, Bready said. This includes moving clients from legacy platforms to its cloud-based Genius digital payments platform, he said.

The platform, which will be continuously updated, will add an SMB-focused retail payments tool later this year, he said.

“By the end of 2025, we will be exclusively selling cloud capabilities paving the way for widespread adoption of these modernized solutions,” Bready said.

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