Fiserv, Inc.
Company History
Fiserv History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin
When was Fiserv founded?
Fiserv was founded in 1984 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Leslie M. Muma and George D. Dalton, making it 42 years old.
- Founded
- 1984
- Founding place
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin
- Founders
- Leslie M. Muma and George D. Dalton
- Headquarters today
- Milwaukee, Wisconsin, United States
- Milestones documented
- 12 (1984–2026)
- Current CEO
- Takis Georgakopoulos
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 1984 | Fiserv founded |
| 1986 | Nasdaq IPO |
| 2005 | Jeffery Yabuki Becomes CEO |
| 2007 | CheckFree acquisition |
| 2013 | Open Solutions Acquired |
| 2018 | Fiserv Forum Naming Rights |
| 2019 | First Data merger |
| 2020 | Frank Bisignano becomes CEO |
| 2022 | Acquired Finxact |
| 2023 | Move to NYSE as FI |
| 2025 | Mike Lyons becomes CEO; stock crashes |
| 2026 | Takis Georgakopoulos named CEO |
- Where was Fiserv founded?
- Fiserv was founded in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 1984.
- Who founded Fiserv?
- Fiserv was founded by Leslie M. Muma and George D. Dalton.
- When did Fiserv start?
- Fiserv was founded in 1984.
- How old is Fiserv?
- Fiserv is 42 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
In the early 1980s, smaller banks and thrifts could not afford their own mainframe processing. George Dalton ran a Milwaukee bank data processing operation and Leslie Muma ran Sunshine State Systems in Tampa. In 1984 they combined the two into Fiserv, offering shared, outsourced processing to institutions that needed computing scale without building it themselves. Fiserv listed on Nasdaq in 1986 and spent the following decades buying regional processors.
Founders
Leslie M. Muma
Leslie M. Muma is a co-founder of Fiserv. He led the company's Florida operations after the 1984 merger, served as president for many years and later succeeded George Dalton as CEO, leading Fiserv until Jeff Yabuki took over in 2005. He oversaw much of the acquisition-led expansion that made Fiserv a national processor. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
George D. Dalton
George D. Dalton co-founded Fiserv in 1984 and served as its first CEO and chairman. He took the company public on Nasdaq in 1986 and built it into a national provider of outsourced bank processing through acquisitions before handing the CEO role to Leslie Muma. (Exact birth year remains publicly undisclosed).
Key Milestones
Fiserv founded
George Dalton's Milwaukee data processing operation and Leslie Muma's Sunshine State Systems combined to form Fiserv.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgJeffery Yabuki Becomes CEO
Jeffery Yabuki became chief executive of Fiserv in December 2005.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgCheckFree acquisition
Bought online bill payment company CheckFree for about $4.4 billion.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgOpen Solutions Acquired
Fiserv bought the banking-software company Open Solutions in January 2013.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFiserv Forum Naming Rights
Fiserv bought the naming rights to the Milwaukee Bucks arena, Fiserv Forum, in 2018.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFirst Data merger
Completed the all-stock acquisition of First Data, valued around $22 billion, adding Clover and merchant acquiring.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgFrank Bisignano becomes CEO
Former First Data CEO Frank Bisignano succeeded Jeff Yabuki.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMove to NYSE as FI
Fiserv transferred its listing to the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker FI.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgMike Lyons becomes CEO; stock crashes
Lyons took over in May 2025 when Bisignano became Social Security Commissioner. On October 29, 2025, shares fell 44% after a guidance cut; Paul Todd became CFO and the company returned to Nasdaq as FISV.
Source: cnbc.comTakis Georgakopoulos named CEO
Lyons left in June 2026 to run Truist; Georgakopoulos was appointed CEO. In August, Fiserv cut 2026 guidance after a 4% Q2 revenue decline.
Source: paymentsdive.comMajor Acquisitions
First Data Corporation
2019All-stock acquisition that added merchant acquiring and Clover to Fiserv's bank technology business.
CheckFree Corporation
2007Acquired leading electronic bill payment and presentment software provider.
Finxact
2022Acquired next-generation cloud-native core banking system designed for real-time digital banking.
Keep researching Fiserv
Fiserv Company History FAQ
When was Fiserv founded?
Fiserv was founded in 1984 when George Dalton's Milwaukee bank data processing operation merged with Leslie Muma's Sunshine State Systems of Tampa.
When did Fiserv go public?
Fiserv listed on Nasdaq in 1986 under the ticker FISV.
When did Fiserv buy CheckFree?
Fiserv acquired online bill payment provider CheckFree in 2007 for about $4.4 billion.
When did Fiserv acquire First Data?
Fiserv completed its all-stock acquisition of First Data in July 2019, a deal valued around $22 billion that brought Clover into the company.
Is Fiserv on the NYSE or Nasdaq?
Fiserv moved to the NYSE as FI in 2023 and returned to Nasdaq as FISV in late 2025.
What happened to Fiserv in 2025 and 2026?
Mike Lyons became CEO in May 2025, the stock fell 44% on October 29, 2025 after a guidance cut, and Takis Georgakopoulos replaced Lyons as CEO in June 2026.
How did Fiserv start?
Fiserv was founded in 1984 through the merger of two regional data processing companies: Sunshine State Systems (Florida) and First Data Processing (Wisconsin). The founders, George Dalton and Leslie Muma, realized that local community banks were incredibly bad at building their own IT systems, so they built a massive centralized network to process checks and balances for them.
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