First Data Corp. plans to further exploit its fast-growing Clover point-of-sale hardware and software platform for small and mid-sized businesses by bringing it to full-service restaurants.
“Clover has always been strong in small, quick-service restaurants, but the FSR segment needs much deeper functionality and is a large addressable software market that enables Clover to increase its revenue per merchant,” First Data chairman and chief executive Frank Bisignano said Monday morning while reviewing the Atlanta-based processor’s third-quarter financial results.
The package, which Bisignano said will roll out “shortly,” will put First Data into even sharper competition with merchant processors Square Inc. and Global Payments Inc., both of which have many restaurants as merchants and have extensive business-management software offerings. Chief financial officer Himanshu Patel said on today’s conference call with analysts that First Data is up to the task. He noted that the restaurant sector already is Clover’s biggest merchant segment, or vertical.