Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2025

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements have been included. Such adjustments consisted of normal recurring items. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. The consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are presented as permitted by Form 10-Q and do not contain certain information included in the annual consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes of Fiserv, Inc. (the “Company”). These interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2024.

Principles of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Fiserv, Inc. and its subsidiaries in which the Company holds a majority controlling financial interest. All intercompany transactions and balances between the Company and its subsidiaries have been eliminated in consolidation. Control is typically established when ownership and voting interests in an entity are greater than 50%. Investments in which the Company has significant influence but not control are accounted for using the equity method of accounting, for which the Company’s share of net income or loss is reported within income (loss) from investments in unconsolidated affiliates, and the related tax expense or benefit is reported within the income tax provision in the consolidated statements of income. Significant influence over an affiliate’s operations generally coincides with an ownership interest of between 20% and 50%; for partnerships and limited liability companies, an ownership interest of between 3% and 50%; or board of director representation may also constitute significant influence.

Noncontrolling interests in entities of which the Company maintains a majority controlling financial interest represent the minority shareholders’ share of the net income or loss and equity in consolidated subsidiaries. The Company’s noncontrolling interests presented in the consolidated statements of income include net income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests and, in 2024, redeemable noncontrolling interest. Noncontrolling interests are presented as a component of equity in the consolidated balance sheets. Additional information regarding the Company’s redeemable noncontrolling interest is included in Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S.”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and investments with original maturities of 90 days or less and are stated at cost in the consolidated balance sheets, which approximates market value. Cash and cash equivalents held on behalf of merchants and other payees are included in settlement assets in the consolidated balance sheets. The changes in settlement cash and cash equivalents are included in settlement activity, net within cash flows from financing activities in the consolidated statements of cash flows. Cash and cash equivalents that are restricted from use due to contractual or legal restrictions are included in other long-term assets in the consolidated balance sheets.

The following table provides a reconciliation between cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated balance sheets and the consolidated statements of cash flows:


(In millions)	September 30, 2025		December 31, 2024		September 30, 2024
Cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated balance sheets	$	1,068	$	1,236	$	1,228
Cash and cash equivalents included in settlement assets	1,682		1,756		2,243
Restricted cash	15		1		2
Total cash and cash equivalents on the consolidated statements of cash flows	$	2,765	$	2,993	$	3,473

Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company analyzes the collectability of trade accounts receivable by considering historical bad debts and issued client credits, client creditworthiness, current economic trends, changes in client payment terms and collection trends when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. Any change in the assumptions used in analyzing a specific account receivable may result in an additional allowance for doubtful accounts being recognized in the period in which the change occurs. The allowance for doubtful accounts was $82 million and $71 million at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively.

Prepaid Expenses and Other Current Assets

Prepaid expenses and other current assets consisted of the following:


(In millions)	September 30, 2025		December 31, 2024
Prepaid maintenance, postage and insurance	$	302	$	216


Other prepaid expenses	258		188
Total prepaid expenses (1)	560		404

Income tax receivables (2)	278		501
Clover Capital and other merchant cash advances, net	513		381
Settlement advance cash payments	1,372		1,101
Other current assets	874		700
Total other current assets	3,037		2,683
Total prepaid expenses and other current assets	$	3,597	$	3,087

(1)Prepaid expenses represent advance payments for goods and services to be consumed in the future.

(2)Includes receivables associated with transferable federal tax credits (see Note 15).

The Company offers merchants advance access to capital, primarily through its Clover Capital program. Under this program, merchants sell fixed amounts of their future credit card receivables to the Company in exchange for an up-front purchase price payment. Future credit card receivables purchased by the Company under its merchant cash advance programs, including Clover Capital, were $544 million and $397 million at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The Company maintained a reserve of $31 million and $16 million at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively, based on an estimate of uncollectible amounts.

The Company also offers merchants within its international operations advance access to capital by providing them the opportunity to receive settlement cash payments in advance in exchange for their receivables from card issuers, including when cardholders have elected to pay over time in installments. These local currency denominated arrangements are primarily associated with the Company’s operations in Latin America, the most significant of which are denominated in Argentine Peso and Brazilian Real.

Settlement Assets and Obligations

Settlement assets and obligations represent intermediary balances arising from the settlement process, which involves the transfer of funds among card issuers, payment networks, processors, merchants and consumers, and collateral amounts held to manage merchant credit risk, primarily associated with the Company’s merchant acquiring services. As a processor, the Company facilitates the clearing and settlement activity for the merchant and records settlement assets and obligations upon

processing a payment transaction. Settlement assets represent cash received or amounts receivable from agents, payment networks, bank partners, merchants or direct consumers. Settlement obligations represent amounts payable to merchants and payees.

Certain merchant settlement assets (included within settlement receivables) that relate to settlement obligations are held by partner banks. Although the Company does not have legal ownership of these assets, it has the right to use them to satisfy the related settlement obligations. The Company records settlement obligations for amounts payable to merchants and for outstanding payment instruments issued to payees that have not yet been presented for settlement.

Allowance for Merchant Credit Losses

With respect to the Company’s merchant acquiring business, the Company’s merchant customers have the legal obligation to refund any charges properly reversed by the cardholder. However, in the event the Company is not able to collect the refunded amounts from the merchants, the Company may be liable for the reversed charges. The Company’s risk in this area primarily relates to situations where a cardholder has purchased goods or services to be delivered in the future. The Company requires cash deposits, guarantees, letters of credit or other types of collateral from certain merchants to mitigate this risk. Collateral held by the Company, or held by partner banks for the Company’s benefit, is classified within settlement assets, and the obligation to repay the collateral is classified within settlement obligations in the consolidated balance sheets. The amount of merchant collateral available to the Company was $605 million and $598 million at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively. The Company also utilizes a number of systems and procedures to manage merchant credit risk. Despite these efforts, the Company experiences losses due to merchant defaults. The aggregate merchant credit loss expense, recognized by the Company within cost of processing and services in the consolidated statements of income, was $32 million and $24 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and $93 million and $77 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively.

The Company maintains an allowance for merchant credit losses that are expected to exceed the amount of merchant collateral. The allowance includes estimated losses from anticipated chargebacks and fraud events that have been incurred on merchant payment transactions that have been processed but not yet reported to the Company, which is recorded within accounts payable and other current liabilities in the consolidated balance sheets, as well as estimated losses on refunded amounts to cardholders that have not yet been collected from the merchants, which is recorded within prepaid expenses and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheets. The allowance is based primarily on the Company’s historical experience of credit losses and other factors such as changes in economic conditions or increases in merchant fraud. The aggregate merchant credit loss allowance was $44 million and $40 million at September 30, 2025 and December 31, 2024, respectively.

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over the fair value of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. The Company evaluates goodwill for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently if circumstances indicate possible impairment. Goodwill is tested for impairment at a reporting unit level, which is one level below the Company’s operating segments. The Company’s most recent annual impairment assessment of its reporting units in the fourth quarter of 2024 determined that its goodwill was not impaired as the estimated fair values exceeded the carrying values for each of the Company’s reporting units. However, it is reasonably possible that future developments related to the interest or currency exchange rate environments; a shift in strategic initiatives; a deterioration in financial performance within a particular reporting unit(s); or significant changes in the composition of, or assumptions used in, the quantitative test for certain of the Company’s reporting units (such as an increase in risk-adjusted discount rates) could have a future material impact on one or more of the estimates and assumptions used to evaluate goodwill impairment. There is no accumulated goodwill impairment for the Company through September 30, 2025.

Foreign Currency

The U.S. dollar is the functional currency of the Company’s U.S.-based and certain foreign-based businesses. Where the functional currency of subsidiaries differs from the U.S. dollar, assets and liabilities are translated into U.S. dollars at the exchange rates in effect at the balance sheet date. Revenue and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates during the reporting period. Gains and losses from foreign currency translation are recorded as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive loss. Gains and losses from foreign currency transactions are included in determining net income for the reporting period.

Financial statements of subsidiaries located in highly inflationary economies outside of the U.S. are remeasured into U.S. dollars, and the foreign currency gains and losses from the remeasurement of monetary assets and liabilities are reflected in the consolidated statements of income, rather than as foreign currency translation within accumulated other comprehensive loss in the consolidated balance sheets. The remeasurement of monetary assets and liabilities in highly inflationary economies,

including Argentina, resulted in foreign currency exchange losses of $53 million and $22 million for the three months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, and $117 million and $75 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2025 and 2024, respectively, which is included within other expense, net in the consolidated statements of income.

To reduce exposure to changes in the value of the Company’s net investments in certain of its foreign currency-denominated subsidiaries due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, the Company uses fixed-to-fixed cross-currency rate swap contracts and foreign currency-denominated debt as economic hedges of its net investments in such foreign currency-denominated subsidiaries. Foreign currency transaction gains or losses on the qualifying net investment hedge instruments are recorded as foreign currency translation, net of tax, within other comprehensive income (loss) in the consolidated statements of comprehensive income and will remain in accumulated other comprehensive loss within the consolidated balance sheets until the sale or complete liquidation of the underlying foreign currency-denominated subsidiaries.

Derivatives

Derivatives are entered into for periods consistent with related underlying exposures and are recorded in the consolidated balance sheets as either an asset or liability measured at fair value. If the derivative is designated as a cash flow hedge, changes in the fair value of the derivative are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive loss and recognized in the consolidated statements of income when the hedged item affects earnings. If the derivative is designated as a net investment hedge, changes in the fair value of the derivative, net of tax, are recorded in the foreign currency translation component of other comprehensive income (loss) until the sale or complete liquidation of the underlying net investment. If the derivative is designated as a fair value hedge, changes in the fair value of the derivative are recorded in the same line item as the changes in the fair value of the hedged item and recognized in the consolidated statements of income. To the extent a derivative is not designated as a hedge, changes in fair value are recognized in the consolidated statements of income. The Company’s policy is to enter into derivatives as economic hedges with creditworthy institutions to limit exposure to changing interest rates and foreign currency rate fluctuations, and not to enter into such derivatives for speculative purposes. Additional information regarding the Company’s derivatives and hedging instruments is included in Note 7 to the consolidated financial statements.

Defined Benefit Pension Plans

The Company maintained frozen noncontributory defined benefit pension plans covering certain of its employees in the U.S. and United Kingdom (“U.K.”), which were terminated in September 2023. In March 2024, the Company entered into a group annuity insurance contract to provide for the administration of future payments to eligible plan participants of the terminated U.K. plan. In connection with the buy-in of this insurance policy, the plan’s projected benefit obligation was remeasured in the first quarter of 2024 to the value of the group annuity insurance contract, resulting in an unrecognized loss, net of tax, of approximately $63 million recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss within the consolidated balance sheet.

Upon the settlement of the terminated plans, which was completed in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Company funded a plan termination liability shortfall for the U.S. defined benefit pension plan of $20 million and recognized a non-cash pre-tax pension settlement charge for the U.S. and U.K. plans of $147 million. The Company received a refund, net of excise tax, of $43 million of residual surplus related to the U.K. plan in the second quarter of 2025.

Interest Expense, Net

Interest expense, net consists of interest expense primarily associated with the Company’s outstanding borrowings and finance lease obligations, as well as interest income primarily associated with the Company’s investment securities. Interest expense, net consisted of the following:


	Three Months Ended September 30,				Nine Months Ended September 30,
(In millions)	2025		2024		2025		2024
Interest expense	$	(432)	$	(339)	$	(1,147)	$	(904)
Interest income	10		13		29		32
Interest expense, net	$	(422)	$	(326)	$	(1,118)	$	(872)

FISERV INC 10-Q