XML 19 R9.htm IDEA: XBRL DOCUMENT
v3.20.2

Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 9 Months Ended
--- | ---
Sep. 30, 2020
Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Basis of Presentation The consolidated financial statements for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 are unaudited. In the opinion of management, all adjustments necessary for a fair presentation of the consolidated financial statements have been included. Such adjustments consisted of normal recurring items. Interim results are not necessarily indicative of results for a full year. The consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes are presented as permitted by Form 10-Q and do not contain certain information included in the annual consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes of Fiserv, Inc. (the “Company”). These interim consolidated financial statements should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019. On July 29, 2019, the Company acquired First Data Corporation (“First Data”) by acquiring 100% of the First Data stock that was issued and outstanding as of the date of acquisition for a total purchase price of $46.5 billion (see Note 4). First Data provides a wide-range of solutions to merchants, including retail point-of sale (“POS”) merchant transaction processing and acquiring, e-commerce services, mobile payment services and the cloud-based Clover® point-of-sale operating system, as well as technology solutions for bank and non-bank issuers. The consolidated financial statements include the financial results of First Data from the date of acquisition. Segment Realignment Effective in the first quarter of 2020, the Company realigned its reportable segments to correspond with changes to its operating model to reflect its new management structure and organizational responsibilities (“Segment Realignment”) following the acquisition of First Data. The Company’s new reportable segments are: Merchant Acceptance (“Acceptance”), Financial Technology (“Fintech”) and Payments and Network (“Payments”). Segment results for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 have been restated to reflect the Segment Realignment. See Note 22 for additional information. Principles of Consolidation The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Fiserv, Inc. and its subsidiaries in which the Company holds a controlling financial interest. Control is normally established when ownership and voting interests in an entity are greater than 50%. Investments in which the Company has significant influence but not control are accounted for using the equity method of accounting, for which the Company’s share of net income or loss is reported within income from investments in unconsolidated affiliates and the related tax expense or benefit is reported within the income tax provision in the consolidated statements of income. Significant influence over an affiliate’s operations generally coincides with an ownership interest in an entity of between 20% and 50%. All intercompany transactions and balances have been eliminated in consolidation. The Company maintains majority controlling interests in certain entities, mostly related to consolidated merchant alliances (see Notes 4 and 21). Noncontrolling interests represent the minority shareholders’ share of the net income or loss and equity in consolidated subsidiaries. The Company’s noncontrolling interests presented in the consolidated statements of income include net income attributable to noncontrolling interests and redeemable noncontrolling interests. Noncontrolling interests are presented as a component of equity in the consolidated balance sheets and reflect the minority shareholders’ share of acquired fair value in the consolidated subsidiaries, along with their proportionate share of the earnings or losses of the subsidiaries, net of dividends or distributions. Noncontrolling interests that are redeemable upon the occurrence of an event that is not solely within the Company’s control are presented outside of equity and are carried at their estimated redemption value if it exceeds the initial carrying value of the redeemable interest (see Note 12). Use of Estimates The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“U.S.”) requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenue and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ materially from those estimates. Risks and Uncertainties In December 2019, a novel strain of coronavirus (“COVID-19”) was identified and has since continued to spread and negatively impact the economy of the United States and other countries around the world. In March 2020, the World Health Organization recognized the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the governments of many countries, states, cities and other geographic regions have taken actions to prevent the spread of COVID-19, such as imposing travel restrictions and bans, quarantines, social distancing guidelines, shelter-in-place or lock-down orders and other similar limitations. Accordingly, the COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted global economic activity and has contributed to significant volatility in financial markets during 2020. Global economic and market conditions impact levels of consumer spending. Consequently, the Company’s operating performance, primarily within its merchant acquiring and payment-related businesses, which earn transaction-based fees, has been adversely affected, and may continue to be adversely affected, by the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s future operational and financial performance will depend on, among other matters, the duration and intensity of the pandemic; governmental and private sector responses to the pandemic and the impact of such responses on the Company; and the impact of the pandemic on the Company’s employees, clients, vendors, operations and sales, all of which are uncertain and cannot be predicted. These changing conditions may also affect the estimates and assumptions made by management. Such estimates and assumptions affect, among other things, the valuations of the Company’s long-lived assets, definite-lived intangible assets and equity method investments; the Company’s deferred tax assets and related valuation allowances; the estimate of current expected credit losses; and certain pension plan assumptions. To the extent economic and market conditions do not continue to improve or deteriorate, the COVID-19 pandemic and the related economic and market decline may also impact the assumptions used in the Company’s annual impairment assessment of goodwill during the fourth quarter of 2020. Changes in any assumptions used may result in a goodwill impairment charge that, if incurred, could have a material adverse impact on the Company’s results of operations, total assets and total equity in the period recognized. Events and changes in circumstances arising subsequent to September 30, 2020, including those resulting from the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, will be reflected in management’s estimates for future periods. Cash and Cash Equivalents Cash and cash equivalents consist of cash and investments with original maturities of 90 days or less. Cash and cash equivalents are stated at cost in the consolidated balance sheets, which approximates market value. Cash and cash equivalents that were restricted from use due to regulatory or other requirements are included in other long-term assets in the consolidated balance sheets and totaled $14 million and $40 million at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Company analyzes the collectability of trade accounts receivable by considering historical bad debts, client creditworthiness, current economic conditions, expectations of near term economic trends, changes in client payment terms and collection trends when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts for expected credit losses. Any change in the assumptions used in analyzing a specific account receivable may result in an additional allowance for doubtful accounts being recognized in the period in which the change occurs. The allowance for doubtful accounts was $47 million and $39 million at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. Reserve for Merchant Credit Losses With respect to the Company’s merchant acquiring business, the Company’s merchant customers have the legal obligation to refund any charges properly reversed by the cardholder. However, in the event the Company is not able to collect the refunded amounts from the merchants, the Company may be liable for the reversed charges. The Company’s risk in this area primarily relates to situations where the cardholder has purchased goods or services to be delivered in the future. The Company requires cash deposits, guarantees, letters of credit or other types of collateral from certain merchants to minimize this obligation. Collateral held by the Company is classified within settlement assets and the obligation to repay the collateral is classified within settlement obligations in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company also utilizes a number of systems and procedures to manage merchant risk. Despite these efforts, the Company experiences some level of losses due to merchant defaults. The aggregate merchant credit losses, included within cost of processing and services in the consolidated statements of income, incurred by the Company was $35 million and $89 million for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, and $17 million for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019. The amount of collateral held by the Company was $982 million and $510 million at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. The Company maintains reserves for merchant credit losses that are expected to exceed the amount of collateral held. The reserves include an estimated amount for anticipated chargebacks and fraud events that have been incurred on merchants’ payment transactions that have been processed but not yet reported to the Company (“IBNR Reserve”), as well as an allowance on refunded amounts to cardholders that have not yet been collected from the merchants. The IBNR Reserve, which is recorded within accounts payable and accrued expenses in the consolidated balance sheets, is based primarily on the Company’s historical experience of credit losses and other relevant factors such as economic downturns or increases in merchant fraud. The aggregate merchant credit loss reserves were $63 million and $34 million at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively. Goodwill Goodwill represents the excess of purchase price over the fair value of identifiable assets acquired and liabilities assumed in a business combination. The Company evaluates goodwill for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently if circumstances indicate possible impairment. Goodwill is tested for impairment at a reporting unit level, determined to be at an operating segment level or one level below. When assessing goodwill for impairment, the Company considers (i) the amount of excess fair value over the carrying value of each reporting unit, (ii) the period of time since a reporting unit’s last quantitative test, (iii) the extent a reorganization or disposition changes the composition of one or more of the reporting units and (iv) other factors to determine whether or not to first perform a qualitative test. When performing a qualitative test, the Company assesses numerous factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of its reporting units are less than their respective carrying values. Examples of qualitative factors that the Company assesses include its share price, its financial performance, market and competitive factors in its industry and other events specific to its reporting units. If the Company concludes that it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, the Company performs a quantitative impairment test by comparing reporting unit carrying values to estimated fair values. The Company performed its annual assessment of its reporting units’ goodwill in the fourth quarter of 2019 and no impairment was identified. In connection with the Segment Realignment described above, certain of the Company’s reporting units have changed in composition in which goodwill was allocated to such reporting units using a relative fair value approach. Accordingly, the Company performed an interim goodwill impairment assessment in the first quarter of 2020 for those reporting units impacted by the Segment Realignment, and determined that its goodwill was not impaired based on an assessment of various qualitative factors as described above. There is no accumulated goodwill impairment for the Company through September 30, 2020. See Note 7 for additional information. Other Investments The Company maintains investments in various equity securities without a readily determinable fair value. Such investments totaled $165 million and $167 million at September 30, 2020 and December 31, 2019, respectively, and are included within other long-term assets in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. The Company reviews these investments each reporting period to determine whether an impairment or observable price change for the investment has occurred. When such events or changes occur, the Company evaluates the fair value compared to its cost basis in the investment. Gains or losses from a change in fair value are included within other income (expense) in the consolidated statements of income for the period. Adjustments made to the values recorded for these equity securities during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019 were not significant. Interest Expense, Net Interest expense, net consists of interest expense primarily associated with the Company’s outstanding borrowings and finance lease obligations, as well as interest income primarily associated with the Company’s investment securities. The Company recognized $176 million and $187 million of interest expense and $2 million and $23 million of interest income during the three months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively. The Company recognized $541 million and $309 million of interest expense and $6 million and $30 million of interest income for the nine months ended September 30, 2020 and 2019, respectively.

X
- References No definition available. + Details
Name: | us-gaap_AccountingPoliciesAbstract
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | xbrli:stringItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration

X
- Definition The entire disclosure for the basis of presentation and significant accounting policies concepts. Basis of presentation describes the underlying basis used to prepare the financial statements (for example, US Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, Other Comprehensive Basis of Accounting, IFRS). Accounting policies describe all significant accounting policies of the reporting entity. + References Reference 1: http://fasb.org/us-gaap/role/ref/legacyRef -Publisher FASB -Name Accounting Standards Codification -Topic 235 -URI http://asc.fasb.org/topic&trid=2122369 + Details
Name: | us-gaap_BasisOfPresentationAndSignificantAccountingPoliciesTextBlock
Namespace Prefix: | us-gaap_
Data Type: | nonnum:textBlockItemType
Balance Type: | na
Period Type: | duration