Tucked inside nearly 40-year-old Fiserv Inc. is a Square-like business that’s actually larger than the flashy Jack Dorsey company. Fiserv’s
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Clover business may not have the same pop-culture cachet as Block Inc.’s
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Square unit, but the company has thrived in the market for small-business payment processing by following a different playbook. Whereas Square is known for its self-service sales model and its tight software ecosystem, Clover has found its own winning formula by embracing a vast network of distribution partnerships and taking a more open approach to outside software.
Those familiar with smartphones can think of Clover as playing an Android-like role in the market for small-business payment products, while Block’s Square carries parallels to the more closed-off Apple Inc.
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said MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis. Being the Android equivalent in this market has paid off nicely for Clover, which is larger and faster-growing than Square on the key metric of gross payment volume, or the value of transactions flowing through a payment system. Fiserv cited $197 billion in annualized Clover payment volume as of its first quarter, while Square’s first-quarter volume would equate to $158 billion on an annualized basis. Clover is smaller than Square by revenue, which Ellis says is due to Clover’s positioning with slightly larger merchants that t …