About ACI Worldwide

ACI Worldwide, Inc. (ACI) develops, markets, installs, and supports a broad line of software products and solutions primarily focused on facilitating real-time digital payments. ACI's solutions and services are used globally by banks, intermediaries, merchants and billers, such as third-party digital payment processors, payment associations, switch interchanges and a wide range of transaction-generating endpoints, including automated teller machines (ATM), merchant point-of-sale (POS) terminals, bank branches, mobile phones, tablets, corporations, and internet commerce sites. The authentication, authorization, switching, settlement, fraud-checking, and reconciliation of digital payments is a complex activity due to the large number of locations and variety of sources from which transactions can be generated, the large number of participants in the market, high transaction volumes, geographically dispersed networks, differing types of authorization, and varied reporting requirements. These activities are typically performed online and are conducted 24 hours a day, seven days a week. ACI combines a global perspective with local presence to tailor digital payment solutions for the company’s customers. Corporate Online Banking Solutions On September 1, 2022, the company sold its corporate online banking solutions related assets and liabilities to One Equity Partners. Target Markets ACI’s comprehensive digital payment solutions serve three key markets: Banks ACI provides payment solutions to large and mid-size banks globally for both retail banking, digital, and other payment services. The company’s solutions transform banks’ complex payment environments to speed time to market, reduce costs, and deliver a consistent experience to customers across channels while enabling them to prevent and rapidly react to fraudulent activity. In addition, the company enables banks to meet the requirements of different real-time payment schemes and to quickly create differentiated products to meet consumer, business, and merchant demands. ACI’s payment solutions support intermediaries, such as processors, networks, payment service providers (PSPs), and new financial technology (fintech) entrants. The company offers these customers scalable solutions that strategically position them to innovate and achieve growth and cost efficiency, while protecting them against fraud. The company’s solutions also allow new entrants in the digital marketplace to access innovative payment schemes, such as the U.K. Faster Payments New Access Model, Singapore FAST, India Unified Payments Interface (UPI), the Payments Network Malaysia (PayNet), Real-time Retail Payments Platform (RPP), and others. Merchants ACI’s support of merchants globally includes Tier 1 and Tier 2 merchants, online-only merchants and the PSPs, independent selling organizations (ISOs), value-added resellers (VARs), and acquirers who service them. These customers operate in a variety of verticals, including general merchandise, grocery, hospitality, dining, transportation, and others. The company’s solutions provide merchants with a secure, omni-channel payments platform that gives them independence from third-party payment providers. The company also offers secure solutions to online-only merchants that provide consumers with a convenient and seamless way to shop. Billers Within the biller segment, ACI provides electronic bill presentment and payment (EBPP) services to companies operating in the consumer finance, insurance, healthcare, higher education, utility, government, mortgage, subscription providers, and telecommunications categories. The company’s solutions enable these customers to support a wide range of payment options and provide a convenient consumer payments experience that drives consumer loyalty and increases revenue. Solutions ACI is a global leader in mission-critical, real-time payments software. The company’s proven, secure, and scalable software solutions enable corporations, fintechs, and financial disruptors to process and manage digital payments, power omni-commerce payments, present and process bill payments, and manage fraud and risk. The company combines its global footprint with a local presence to drive the real-time digital transformation of payments and commerce. The company’s strategic solution areas include the following: Issuing and Acquiring ACI offers comprehensive consumer payment solutions ranging from core payment engines to back-office support that enable banks and intermediaries to compete effectively in today’s real-time, open payments ecosystem. ACI Acquiring is a merchant management system that helps acquirers offer merchants capabilities to deliver digital innovation, handle new payment methods, and maximize margins. ACI Issuing is a digital payments issuing solution that helps issuers accelerate innovation, give customers new payment offerings and enable channels, services, endpoints, and integrations from a single cloud-based or on-premise solution. ACI Enterprise Payments Platform is a market-leading technology that provides payment players global payment processing and orchestration capabilities for all digital payments, including high- and low-value payments, real-time and alternative payments, and cards. Real-Time Payments ACI supports both low- and high-value real-time payment processing for banks and intermediaries globally, ensuring multi-bank, multi-currency and 24x7 payment processing capabilities, as well as complete and ongoing regulatory compliance. ACI Low Value Real-Time Payments is a platform with a complete range of capabilities for processing real-time payments, including origination, processing, orchestration, clearing and settlement, fraud detection and connectivity. ACI High Value Real-Time Payments is a global payments engine that offers multi-bank, multi-currency, and 24x7 payment processing capabilities, as well as SWIFT messaging with seamless integrations to multiple clearing and settlement mechanisms. Omni-Commerce and eCommerce Payments ACI provides real-time, any-to-any payment capabilities globally in both card-present and card-not-present environments. ACI Omni Commerce offers merchants a scalable, omnichannel payment processing platform with the flexibility to support in-store, online, and mobile payments, protected by advanced P2P encryption, tokenization, and fraud management capabilities. ACI Secure eCommerce is a holistic platform that combines a powerful payments gateway, sophisticated real-time fraud prevention capabilities, advanced business intelligence tools, and access to an extensive global network of acquirers and alternative payment methods. Fraud and Risk Management ACI Fraud Management enables merchants, banks, and financial institutions to turn fraud and financial crime prevention into a competitive differentiator with a secure and seamless solution that protects customers’ digital channels and payments anytime, anywhere and maximizes business growth. ACI Fraud Management for banking is powered by state-of-the-art machine learning and enables financial institutions to fight fraud and money laundering across the enterprise while meeting increasing regulatory and customer demand. The solution offers flexible deployment, unprecedented transaction processing and contextual risk analysis for authorized and unauthorized transactions. ACI Fraud Management for merchants is a real-time, cloud-based managed service that uses advanced artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and behavioral analytics to identify and assess inconsistent and unexpected patterns and behaviors. The solution automatically advises and alerts enterprises and merchants about potential threats or anomalies. Bill Payments ACI meets the bill payment needs of corporate customers across myriad industries through a range of electronic bill payment offerings that help companies raise consumer satisfaction while reducing costs. ACI Speedpay is an integrated suite of digital billing, payment, disbursement, and communication services that lowers the cost of presenting and accepting bill payments while delivering industry-leading security. On Premise, On Demand, or Hybrid Software Delivery Options The company’s software solutions are offered to customers through either a traditional term software license arrangement where the software is installed and operated on the customer premises or in a cloud environment, through an on-demand arrangement where the solution is maintained and delivered through the public cloud or ACI's private cloud via its global data centers, or a combination of the two based upon customers' unique needs. Solutions delivered through ACI’s on-demand cloud are available in either a single-tenant environment, known as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) offering, or in a multi-tenant environment, known as a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering. Partnerships and Industry Participation The company has two major types of third-party product partners: technology partners, or industry leaders with whom it works closely that drive key industry trends and mandates, and business partners, with whom it embeds the partners’ technology in ACI products, host the partners’ software in ACI’s cloud as a part of the company’s cloud offerings, or jointly market solutions that include the products of the other company. Technology partners include organizations such as Diebold Nixdorf (Diebold), NCR Corporation (NCR), Visa, Mastercard, and SWIFT. In addition, ACI has membership in or participates in the relevant committees of several industry associations, such as the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), Accredited Standards Committee (ASC) X9, ATM Industry Association (ATMIA), Financial Services, Nexo Standards, U.K. Cards Association, U.S. Payments Forum, and the PCI Security Standards Council. The company has alliances with its technology partners Amazon, HPE, IBM, Microsoft Corporation, and Oracle USA, Inc. (Oracle), whose industry-leading hardware, software, and cloud-based infrastructure services are utilized by and in delivery of ACI’s products. These partnerships allow the company to understand developments in the partners’ technology and to utilize their expertise in topics like sizing, scalability, and performance testing. Services The company offers its customers a wide range of professional services, including consultation, analysis, design, development, implementation, integration, testing, and project management. The company’s service professionals generally perform the majority of the work associated with implementing and integrating its software solutions. In addition, the company works with a number of trained global and regional systems integration and services partners for staff augmentation and coordinated co-prime delivery where appropriate. In addition, the company provides education services to ACI customers to enhance and improve their understanding of its products. This learning is made available through the ACI Training Academy, which offers flexible, powerful training in multiple formats: self-paced eLearning, instructor-led courses and hands-on virtual training. The company’s interactive, self-paced eLearning is available on demand via its online learning management system. ACI instructor-led courses include both theory and practical sessions to allow students to work though real business scenarios and put their newly learned skills to use. This hands-on approach ensures that the knowledge is retained, and the student is more productive upon their return to the workplace. ACI also provides further, more in-depth technical courses that allow students to use practical labs to enhance what they have learned in the classroom. Training services are frequently a blended part of implementation services, enabling learning to occur in the right phase of the project lifecycle. Training from ACI Training Academy is available throughout the customer lifecycle to address ongoing or changing business needs. Depending on the products owned and course selected, training is conducted either at a dedicated education facility at one of ACI’s offices, online, on demand or at the customer site. Customer Support ACI provides the company’s customers with product support that is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The company offers its customers two support options: Standard Customer Support: After implementation completion, the company provides maintenance services to customers for a monthly product support fee. Maintenance services include new product releases (major, minor and patches) for active products; 24-hour hotline for priority one (P1) problem resolutions; access to the company’s online support portal (eSupport); vendor-required mandates and updates; and product documentation. Premium Customer Support: Under the premium customer support option, referred to as the Premium Customer Support Program and available at additional cost, customers are provided support beyond the standard offering. The services available may differ by product and are defined in the customer contract. The company provides new releases of its products on a periodic basis. New releases of its products, which often contain minor product enhancements, are typically provided at no additional fee for customers under standard customer support agreements. Competition Key competitors by solution area include the following: Issuing, Acquiring, and Real-Time Payments: The third-party software competitors for ACI’s Issuing, Acquiring, and Real-Time Payments solutions are Computer Sciences Corporation, Fidelity National Information Service, Inc. (FIS), Finastra, Fiserv, Inc. (Fiserv), NCR, OpenWay Group, and TSYS (Global Payments), as well as small, regionally-focused companies, such as BPC Banking Technologies, CR2, Financial Software and Systems, Form3, HPS, Icon Solution, Lusis Payments Ltd., Opus Software Solutions Private Limited, PayEx Solutions AS, Renovite, RS2, and Volante Technologies. Primary digital payment processing competitors in this area include global entities, such as Atos Origin S.A., Fiserv, Mastercard, SiNSYS, and Visa, as well as regional or country-specific processors. Omni-Commerce Payments: Competitors for the company’s ACI Omni-Commerce solution come from both third-party software and service providers, as well as service organizations run by major banks. Third-party software and service competitors include Adyen, Aurus, Cybersource (Visa), First Data (Fiserv), FreedomPay, Ingenico Group, Modo Payments, NCR, Square, Inc., VeriFone Systems, Inc., Worldline, and Worldpay Inc. (FIS). eCommerce Payments: Competitors for the company’s ACI Secure eCommerce solution come from both third-party software and service providers, as well as service organizations run by major banks. Third-party software and service competitors include Adyen, Braintree (PayPal), Cybersource (Visa), First Data (Fiserv), GlobalCollect, Ingenico Group, NCR, Square, Inc., Tender Retail Inc., PPRO, StripeVeriFone Systems, Inc., and Worldpay Inc. (FIS). Fraud Management: Principal competitors for the company’s ACI Fraud Management solution are Accertify (American Express), BAE Systems, Cybersource (Visa), Fair Isaac Corporation (FICO), Featurespace, Feedzai, FIS, Fiserv, Forter, Fraugster, IBM, Kount, NICE LTD, Actimize LTD, Oracle, Riskified, SAS Institute, Inc., and Signifyd, as well as dozens of smaller companies focused on niches of this segment such as anti-money laundering. Bill Payments: The principal competitors for the company’s ACI Speedpay solution are Aliaswire Inc., CSG Systems International, Inc., FIS, Fiserv, Invoice Cloud, Inc., Jack Henry & Associates, Inc., Kubra Customer Interaction Management, Nelnet, Inc. and Affiliates, NIC, Paymentus Corp., PayNearMe, Repay, TouchNet Information Systems, Inc., Transact and Worldpay Inc. (FIS), as well as smaller vertical-specific providers. Research and Development The company works with device manufacturers, such as Diebold, NCR, and Wincor-Nixdorf, to ensure compatibility with the latest ATM technology. The company works with network vendors, such as Mastercard, SWIFT, and Visa, to ensure compliance with new regulations or processing mandates. The company works with computer hardware and software manufacturers, such as HPE, IBM, Microsoft Corporation, and Oracle, to ensure compatibility with new operating system releases and generations of hardware. Customers The company provides software products and solutions to its banks, intermediary, and merchants customers worldwide. The company’s biller products and solutions are sold in the United States. As of December 31, 2022, the company served more than 6,000 organizations, including 9 of the top 10 banks worldwide and 80,000+ merchants directly and through payment service providers, as measured by revenue, in 95+ countries on six continents. Selling and Implementation The company’s products are sold and supported directly and through distribution networks covering three geographic regions – the Americas, Europe/Middle East/Africa (EMEA) and the Asia Pacific. Each region has its own globally coordinated sales force, supplemented with local independent reseller and/or distributor networks. The company’s primary method of distribution is direct sales by employees assigned to specific target customer segments. The company uses distributors and referral partners to supplement its direct sales force in countries where it is more efficient and economical to do so. Headquartered in Coral Gables, Florida, the company has sales and services personnel in offices throughout the United States. Outside of the United States, the company’s international subsidiaries sell, support, and service its products and solutions in their local countries. ACI’s distributors, resellers, and system integration partners are enabled to provide supplemental or complete product implementation and customization services directly to the company’s customers or in a joint delivery model. The company’s broad geographic footprint allows it to leverage the business and technical expertise of a global workforce. The company distributes the products of other vendors where they complement its existing product lines. The company is typically responsible for the sales and marketing of the vendor’s products, and agreements with these vendors generally provide for revenue sharing based on relative responsibilities. Proprietary Rights and Licenses The company distributes its software products under software license agreements that typically grant customers nonexclusive licenses to use its products. Use of the company’s software products is usually restricted to designated computers, specified locations and/or specified capacity, and is subject to terms and conditions prohibiting unauthorized reproduction or transfer of its software products. In addition to its own products, the company distributes, or acts as a sales agent for, software developed by third parties. Government Regulation As a provider of payment services to banks and intermediaries, the company is subject to regulatory oversight and examination by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), an interagency body of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, the National Credit Union Administration and various state regulatory authorities as part of the Multi-Region Data Processing Servicer Program (MDPS). ACI Payments, Inc., the company’s EBPP affiliate, is registered as a Money Services Business. Accordingly, the company is subject to the USA Patriot Act and reporting requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act and United States (U.S.). Treasury Regulations. The company has implemented policies, procedures, and internal controls that are designed to comply with all applicable anti-money laundering laws and regulations. ACI has also implemented policies, procedures, and internal controls that are designed to comply with the regulations and economic sanctions programs administered by the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), which enforces economic and trade sanctions against targeted foreign countries, entities and individuals based on external threats to the U.S. foreign policy, national security, or economy; by other governments; or by global or regional multilateral organizations, such as the United Nations Security Council and the European Union as applicable. History The company, a Delaware corporation, was founded in 1975. It was incorporated in 1993. The company was formerly known as Transaction Systems Architects, Inc. and changed its name to ACI Worldwide, Inc. in 2007.