Who Global Payments is
Global Payments is a payments technology company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, and listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Independent since 2001, it grew through acquisitions that include Realex Payments in Ireland, Heartland and TSYS, and in January 2026 it completed its acquisition of Worldpay.
In the same move it sold its card issuer business to FIS, and it now describes itself as a pure-play commerce solutions provider, serving businesses from small shops to global enterprises. It is one of the acquirers our card acquiring module connects to, and Apple lists it as a Tap to Pay on iPhone provider in several European countries, Romania and the UK among them.
What it does in your platform
Card acquiring
Authorises, captures and settles your merchants' card payments, including taps on an iPhone where Global Payments supports Tap to Pay on iPhone. Refunds and reversals follow the card rules, and settlement is matched to the ledger, so each merchant sees what they are paid and why.
How the connection works
The card acquiring module connects to Global Payments from your platform, with your credentials kept in its secrets. On an iPhone, the SoftPOS app reads the card with Tap to Pay on iPhone and Global Payments processes the payment.
The merchant is set up
Once your underwriting approves a merchant, the module links them to their merchant account with Global Payments, and on an iPhone they accept Apple's Tap to Pay terms on first use.
The customer taps
The merchant enters the amount, the customer taps a card or a phone, and iOS returns the card data encrypted, to be sent to Global Payments.
Global Payments authorises
The payment goes to Global Payments, which asks the card's issuer over the network. Approved or declined, the answer shows in the app at once, with a digital receipt.
Refunds and reversals
A refund or a reversal goes to Global Payments against the original payment, following the card rules, and the ledger moves with it.
Settlement is matched
Global Payments settles the merchant's payments on its schedule, and the module matches each settlement to the ledger, so merchants see every payout in the app.
Next to other providers
Global Payments is one of several acquirers the card acquiring module connects to. Each merchant's payments go to the acquirer that fits their market, traffic can be split between several for resilience, and every payment lands in the same ledger and the same backoffice.
Worldpay has been part of Global Payments since January 2026 and has its own connector, so you can use whichever of the two covers your merchants' countries. Adding or changing an acquirer later does not change the app your merchants use.
When Global Payments fits best
A strong fit when
- Your merchants trade where Global Payments supports Tap to Pay on iPhone, such as Romania, Czechia, Hungary or the UK.
- You serve merchants of every size, from small shops to large chains.
- You want an acquirer that belongs to a large, listed payments group.
Also worth a look
- Worldpay, now in the same group, where its coverage suits your merchants better.
- An acquirer you already have a contract with: it becomes a connector too.
How we get you live
The contract
We help you get your Global Payments account and contract in place, set up for your countries and your merchants.
Merchants and settlement
We set up with you how merchants are boarded, which cards and currencies they take, and how settlement reaches them and the ledger.
The keys
Global Payments' credentials go into your platform's secrets and nowhere else. The app only receives the short-lived token it needs to read a card.
A full test run
The whole flow runs in Global Payments' sandbox, from the first tap to refunds and settlement, before your first real merchant.
