FIS Targets ‘Money in Motion’ Growth and Announces Affirm Debit Card Pact

Shares of FIS slid at the start of intraday trading Tuesday (Feb. 11) in the wake of fourth-quarter earnings results, as net income forecasts came in below Wall Street expectations.

During a conference call with analysts, however, management pointed to accelerating growth in key segments, including Banking Solutions, on the same day it announced a partnership with payment network Affirm. The tie-up will enable FIS debit processing bank clients to integrate Affirm’s pay-over-time solution “directly into their existing debit card program” through the banks’ digital banking and mobile app platforms, according to a press release. Eligible end customers will be offered biweekly and monthly payment plans.

FIS’ Banking Solutions revenues were 2% higher year on year, on an adjusted basis, to $1.7 billion, according to an earnings presentation. The Capital Markets segment saw 9% adjusted revenue growth, to $821 million.

Looking ahead, the company expects to see 3.7% to 4.4% adjusted revenue growth for the current year in Banking, accelerating from the 0.5% to 1.5% pace estimated for the current quarter, alongside 6.5% to 7% gains in Capital Markets adjusted revenues for the year, per the presentation.

As for guidance, adjusted earnings projections for the current quarter came in at $1.17 to $1.22 per share, the presentation showed. Wall Street had expected to see about $1.28.

Shares were down 17% in early trading Tuesday.

During the call, CEO Stephanie Ferris said the results reflected the “momentum we are seeing in new sales across core banking and our key growth vectors of digital payments and commercial lending.” Cross-selling sales tied to FIS’ Amplify program were up 10%.

New sales of digital solutions grew 70% year over year in 2024 as part of those cross-selling efforts, she said.

“Additionally, we are seeing early traction bundling our digital solutions with new core wins, reducing complexity and cost for banks,” she said during the call. “We expect the strong digital sales momentum to continue in 2025 aided by the recent Dragonfly acquisition and specialized sales focus.”

In detailing the “Money in Motion” aspects of the business, with additional commentary on the Affirm partnership, Ferris said: “Our partnership with Affirm, the first of its kind, to bring together debit processing with pay-over-time capabilities demonstrates FIS’ commitment to innovation and unique positioning to unlock financial technology across the money life cycle.”

Chief Financial Officer James Kehoe said on the call that some of the growth that was anticipated for the first quarter was pushed into the subsequent quarter on some client-requested anticipated delays, which were discussed during prior earnings calls in 2023.

“While the first quarter will be softer than the full year, we expect an immediate pickup in the second quarter,” Kehoe said. “We have good visibility into the drivers, and we are confident our second-quarter banking growth will be within the full-year outlook range of 3.7% to 4.4%.”

Asked about industry demand from the banking side of the equation, Ferris said: “Digital, digital, digital, digital. Every financial institution is focused on their digital experience, which is why we continue to invest very significantly both organically and then from an acquisition standpoint, so we can serve everybody. Commercial lending continues to [see] demand across the board, not just with banks, but with private credit and asset managers, etc.

“And then the last one [is the] office of the CFO,” she said during the call. “We think we’re uniquely positioned there. We see a huge amount of demand, and we see mainly niche players. And we think bringing together our products and putting them into an office of the CFO solution is [where] we’re taking the market by storm.”

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