Credit Card & Electronic Payment Processors by Market Share in 2025

Ready to take a peek behind the payment processing curtain? Sure you are! There are many companies that make sure your credit and debit card transactions flow quickly and safely between you — the consumer — your bank, and the merchant. 

Although you may not think about what happens when you pay for something with your card or enter into a short-term loan arrangement at checkout, a lot goes into the process behind the scenes. 

When you swipe, tap, or wave your mobile device at point-of-sale terminals or submit the account information to an eCommerce website to make a purchase, the retailer supplies you with the item or service. After, you either get the bill or the money is deducted from the account linked to your card.

Enter the processor. These are the companies and platforms that make it all happen smoothly and securely. Here are the largest credit card and electronic payment processors globally and in the U.S.

When you use your credit or debit card at a store, whether in-person or online, the processing company gets to work. It securely transmits the data from your card so you can buy what you want.

In a 2024 report by The Strawhecker Group, the biggest payment processors by volume  — which is the amount of money moved from point A to point B —  are as follows.¹ These 10 companies process more than 95% of all card payment volume in the U.S. 

1. JPMorgan Chase — $2.4 Trillion 

JPMorgan Chase is a retail and commercial bank headquartered in New York City. It has about 255,000 employees and is one of the oldest banks — established in 1799 — still operating in the country.

While Chase is its bank brand, the company also has a huge merchant services department, which contains its credit card processing division. As a leading provider of merchant services, it processes well over $2 trillion in transactions annually.

2. Fiserv— $1.8 Trillion

Fiserv is a financial technology and payment solutions company headquartered in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Launched in 1984, it serves thousands of financial institutions and millions of businesses in more than 100 countries. 

Among its other services, Fiserv provides end-to-end account processing solutions to help financial institutions manage their transactions.

It is the world’s largest card issuer processor and currently employs approximately 42,000 workers. 

3. Worldpay Group — $1.7 Trillion

Initially based in London, England, Worldpay Group, is a global financial technology company that now has a headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. 

The company launched in 1997, and provides payment processing services to a variety of businesses, allowing them to take, make, and manage payments both online and in-store across multiple countries and currencies. As such, it is a leading platform for omni-commerce transactions worldwide. 

4. Global Payments — $1 Trillion 

Global Payments spun off from its parent company, National Data Corporation, in 2001. The company is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and has approximately 23,000 employees on six continents. 

Its main function is to provide payment technology services in the U.S. as well as countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, and Latin America.

5. Wells Fargo — $703 Billion

Wells Fargo, headquartered in San Francisco, is the fourth-largest bank in the U.S. with more than 226,000 employees. It began in 1929 as Northwest Bancorporation, then became Norwest Corporation, and operates today as Wells Fargo & Company.

Wells Fargo provides credit card processing services in addition to community banking, wholesale banking, and wealth and investment management products and services.

6. Bank of America — $498.7 Billion

Headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, Bank of America originated in 1904 as the Bank of Italy in San Francisco. It now has about 137,000 employees.

The bank processes payments as part of its merchant services division and received a boost in activity after launching its payment processing app, Zelle.

The service allows users to send and receive money to people who have a U.S. bank account. In 2024 Zelle volumes gained about 26% year-on-year to $106 billion.²

7. Stripe — $450 Billion

Stripe is a financial technology company with nearly 7,000 employees.

The company’s technology and network help businesses accept and manage payments online and in person. 

It launched in 2011 and is currently headquartered in South San Francisco, California. 

8. Elavon — $426 Billion

Elavon was founded in 1991 and has roughly 4,500 employees. Headquartered in Atlanta, the company began as NOVA, a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp. 

Elavon processes credit card transactions in more than 30 countries.

The company also provides electronic check services, prepaid gift cards, point-of-sale services, and various currency services.

9. Adyen — $250 Billion

Adyen Payments Platform is a financial technology company based in San Francisco, California. The company, which launched in 2006, serves to help businesses accept, process, and settle payments across various channels

It supports online, in-app, and in-person purchases, all through a single platform. 

Approximately 4,600 employees work for Adyen, and it currently has offices in 27 locations worldwide. 

10. Square — $195.3 Billion

Launched in 2009, Square is a point-of-sale platform that helps businesses manage their operations and sell products.

It also provides technology that allows merchants to accept payments at physical and online stores. 

The company is headquartered in San Francisco, California, and currently has about 7,100 employees. 

Another way to look at the businesses that are involved in processing payments is by market share — the percentage of total sales it conducts compared to the overall market for those services. 

Some work with just credit and debit card transactions, while others facilitate such alternative transactions as buy now, pay later (BNPL) short-term loans. 

So, which are the biggest companies by market share? First, let’s look at the global data. According to Statista, these were the most frequently used payment processing technology websites on a worldwide basis in 2024³: 

As for the U.S., here are the top 10 largest e-commerce payment brands in the country in 2024, also per Statista⁴: 

When funds shift from your credit card or bank account to the company you’re buying something from, the payment processing company charges a fee — called an interchange fee — to the merchant. 

Although the fee is only a percentage point or so per transaction, the sheer volume and monetary value of these transactions translate into massive profits for the company that facilitates the payments. No surprise, then, that the industry is growing so rapidly. According to Clearly Payments, in 2024 the global overall average fee for processing credit card transactions is approximately 2.4% of the transaction value.⁵ Although, the payment method dictates how much the fee is: 

• Credit card transactions: 2.0% to 3.5%
• Debit card transactions:  0.5% to 2.0%
• Alternative options such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, and BNPL: 1.0% to 2.0%

Whichever payment tool you use, the processing system helps all parties get what they want. As a customer, you can make a purchase in an instant. The money will either be deducted from your checking account or the transaction will appear as a line item on your credit card bill for you to pay. 

Meanwhile, merchants can be confident that the money will be in their accounts without unnecessary delay. It usually takes between 24 and 48 hours from the transaction for the funds to arrive at their bank.

As cash transactions have receded into the past and electronic payment methods have largely taken over the space, even more changes are predicted for the future. 

Mastercard reports that the coming years will see some major advancements.⁶ For example, in 2024, contactless payments account for more than two out of every three in-person purchases on their network, but mobile tap-to-pay technology is emerging. It will turn any mobile device into a payment acceptance terminal, thus reducing the need for complicated checkout infrastructure. 

And by 2030, tokenization is expected to eliminate manual card entry. This means you will be able to share your shopping habits and preferences with merchants on digital platforms to access the most relevant offers and discounts without exposing your personal data to fraudsters.

If all goes according to plan, your online and in-person financial transactions will be safer, faster, and easier than they have been in the past. So, keep an eye out for advancements in technology, especially artificial intelligence and machine learning. The way you’ve been paying for things is sure to evolve in the coming years. 

^{1. https://www.paymentscardsandmobile.com/top-10-merchant-acquirers-processed-9-5-trillion-in-payment-card-volume/}

^{2. https://www.pymnts.com/earnings/2024/bank-of-america-1q-zelle-volumes-surge-26percent-to-106-billion/}

^{3. https://www.statista.com/statistics/895236/australia-market-share-online-payment-platforms/}

^{4. https://www.statista.com/forecasts/997132/biggest-e-commerce-payment-brands-in-the-us}

^{5. https://www.clearlypayments.com/blog/statistics-on-how-much-merchants-pay-for-payment-processing-in-2024/}

^{6. https://newsroom.mastercard.com/news/perspectives/2024/10-top-payments-trends-for-2025-and-beyond/}