The 16 Atlanta-based companies in the Fortune 500 are giants in the transportation, logistics, finance, and manufacturing spaces. The latest Atlanta company to join the list, Global Payments, has long been powering credit and debit card transactions across the globe.
But its next move is a little closer to home.
Global Payments announced earlier this year it is the official commerce technology partner for the Mercedes Benz Stadium (with roll-out to begin in early 2022). This will create a “frictionless experience” from the time a fan finds a parking spot to when they snag a half-time drink.
Global Payments will provide the hardware-software technology infrastructure, payment kiosks, and digital menu boards found across the stadium.
For President and COO Cameron Bready, this Atlanta-made partnership showcases how the payments giant is helping modern business owners navigate new payment realities.
“You’re seeing a younger small business owner who is more comfortable with technology. They’re looking for more ways to leverage technologies to drive more throughput, bring more customers into their business, and [to use] technology to help them run their businesses more efficiently,” Bready added. “And I think in an environment where we continue to have a very stretched labor supply, businesses finding more ways to embrace technology to eliminate some of the work that used to be done by people is increasingly important.”
Innovation for FinTechs, neobanks, and retailers
Around 7,000 of Global Payment’s 24,000 international team members can be found in Georgia, a testament to Metro Atlanta’s FinTech workforce.
The pandemic sparked innovation across the FinTech industry as large companies and startups alike work to help consumers navigate the e-commerce boom.
Global Payments also announced partnerships with both AWS and Google during the pandemic. These partnerships are designed to open its customer base and expand its solutions beyond payment-oriented solutions to more commerce enablement solutions.
Earlier this year Global Payments entered a “co-innovation agreement” as part of its partnership with Google to focus on the merchant side of its business. Its payment solutions will also be sold to Google’s existing base of Cloud customers.
The AWS partnership is focused on the issuer side of the business. Building in a cloud-native environment, Bready says, will help Global Payments service more FinTech and neobank startups looking for issuer solutions and program management capabilities.
“Although we’ve been around for a number of years as a company, all of our technology — particularly our partnerships with AWS and Google — is contemporary and modern. And we are driving as much innovation in our industry as anyone,” Bready added.
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Featured Photo by Christopher Alvarenga on Unsplash
