First Data Corporation is a financial services company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. The company's STAR Network provided nationwide domestic debit acceptance at more than 2 million retail POS, ATM, and Online outlets for nearly a third of all U.S. debit cards. First Data has six million merchants, the largest in the payments industry. The company handles 45% of all US credit and debit transactions, including handling prepaid gift card processing for many US brands such as Starbucks. It processes around 2,800 transactions per second and $2.2 trillion in card transactions annually, with an 80% market share in gas and groceries in 2014. First Data's SpendTrend Report is a key shopping metric for national news networks such as WSJ, USA Today, ESPN, The New York Times, Vox Media, and Bloomberg. In October 2015, First Data returned to public markets, selling 160 million shares in the New York Stock Exchange’s biggest IPO of that year. On January 16, 2019, Fiserv announced a deal to acquire First Data in all-stock deal with equity value of $22 billion. Fiserv completed the acquisition of First Data on Monday July 29, 2019. History In 1969, the Mid-America Bankcard Association (MABA) was formed in Omaha, Nebraska, as a non-profit bankcard processing cooperative. Two years later, First Data Resources (FDR) was founded in Omaha, Nebraska in June 1971 by Perry "Bill" Esping, along with Mike Liddy and Jack Weekly. It started off by providing processing services to the Mid-America Bankcard Association (MABA). In 1976, First Data became the first processor of Visa and MasterCard bank-issued credit cards. In 1980, American Express Information Services Corporation (ISC) bought 80% of First Data. The remaining 20% was purchased in 5% increments each subsequent year until June 1983. First Data Corporation was incorporated on April 7, 1989. First Data Corporation was spun off from American Express and went public in 1992. In 1995, the company merged with First Financial Management Corp. (FFMC) and was then organized into three major business units serving card issuers, merchants and consumers. Western Union became part of First Data as a result of the merger with FFMC. Expansion From 2001 through 2005, a period of expansion occurred as First Data acquired companies around the globe and in the US, including, in 2001, the acquisition of PaySys International and their VisionPLUS Payment Software System. VisionPLUS was followed by a $6.6 billion merger with Concord EFS, Inc.