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Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 3 Months Ended
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Mar. 31, 2021
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 months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 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, 2020. 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 (loss) 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 Note 19). 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 (loss) 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 the consolidated subsidiaries net carrying value. 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 10). 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 Since early 2020, the world has been, and continues to be, impacted by the novel strain of the coronavirus (“COVID-19”) pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic, and various measures imposed by the governments of many countries, states, cities and other geographic regions to prevent its spread, have negatively impacted global economic and market conditions, including levels of consumer and business 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 Company has continued to assess the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on its consolidated financial statements and has determined that there have been no material changes to the significant accounting policies, including estimates and assumptions made by management, included in the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020. The Company will continue to monitor developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic; however, the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic may impact the Company’s future operational and financial performance remains uncertain and cannot be predicted. Changing conditions may also affect the estimates and assumptions made by management and may result in an impairment or other 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 March 31, 2021, 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 $13 million at each of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. Allowance for Doubtful Accounts The Company analyzes the collectability of trade accounts receivable by considering historical bad debts, client creditworthiness, current economic trends, changes in client payment terms and collection trends when evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. 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 $50 million and $48 million at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively. Settlement Assets and Obligations Settlement assets and obligations result from timing differences between collection and fulfillment of payment transactions primarily associated with the Company’s merchant acquiring services. Settlement assets represent cash received or amounts receivable from agents, payment networks, bank partners or directly from consumers. Settlement obligations represent amounts payable to merchants and payees. Certain merchant settlement assets that relate to settlement obligations are held by partner banks to which the Company does not have legal ownership but has the right to use the assets to satisfy the related settlement obligations. The Company records corresponding settlement obligations for amounts payable to merchants and for payment instruments not yet presented for settlement. 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 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 $22 million and $30 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. The amount of collateral held by the Company was $1.9 billion and $1.2 billion at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, 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 reserve, which is recorded within prepaid expenses and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheets, was $60 million and $59 million at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, 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, which is one level below the Company’s reportable segments. The Company’s most recent annual impairment assessment of its reporting units in the fourth quarter of 2020 determined that its goodwill was not impaired as the estimated fair values exceeded the carrying values. However, it is reasonably possible that future developments related to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on certain of the Company’s businesses acquired and recorded at fair value through the acquisition of First Data Corporation (“First Data”) in July 2019, s uch as an increased duration and intensity of the pandemic and/or government-imposed shutdowns, prolonged economic downturn or recession, or lack of governmental support for recovery, could have a future material impact on one or more of the estimates and assumptions used to evaluate goodwill impairment. There is no accumulated goodwill impairment for the Company through March 31, 2021. Other Investments The Company maintains investments in various equity securities without a readily determinable fair value. Such investments totaled $117 million and $160 million at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively, and are included within other long-term assets in the 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 in the consolidated statements of income for the period. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company remeasured its equity interest in Ondot Systems, Inc. (“Ondot”) to fair value upon acquiring a remaining ownership interest in January 2021, resulting in the recognition of a pre-tax gain of $12 million (see Note 4). Other adjustments made to the values recorded for these equity securities during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 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. Interest expense, net consisted of the following:
| Three Months Ended March 31, |  |
(In millions) | 2021 |  | 2020 |  |  |  |
Interest expense | $ | 177 |  |  | $ | 189 |  |  |  |  |
Interest income | 1 |  |  | 2 |  |  |  |  |
Interest expense, net | $ | 176 |  |  | $ | 187 |  |  |  |  |

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- 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
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