The payments industry had an exceptional 2021 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, which not only quickened the acceptance of digital payments across the globe, but also boosted the top-line performance of the top 20 public payment companies to $196 billion, found GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

US players dominated the list with the top four – American Express, PayPal, Visa, and Mastercard – accounting for 57% of aggregate revenue of the top 20. Driven by an increase in global payment volume, the big four grew by more than 10%. Collectively, US headquartered companies generated $178 billion in aggregate revenue.

Other companies in the top 20 list recording impressive top-line growths included Block (formerly Square), Adyen, Worldline, and Lakala Payment, with each company growing more than 25%.

Murthy Grandhi, Company Profiles Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “Block’s growth can be attributed to its remarkable progress in bitcoin revenue. This is following a rise in its active consumer base as well as revenue from its subscriptions and services. Moreover, the company has been witnessing steady growth in its transaction-based revenue over the past few years. Its gross payment volume reported a year-over-year (y-o-y) growth rate and compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 49.4% and 26.6%, respectively, over the past five years (2017-2021), reaching $167.7 billion in 2021.”

Adyen’s processed volumes surpassed half a trillion, reaching EUR516 billion in 2021, reporting a y-o-y growth rate of 70% and a CAGR of 47.7% over the past five years. Of these volumes, Point-of-Sale (POS) accounted for 13% translating to EUR64.6 billion. The company’s revenue expanded due to a greater increase in settlement and processing fees, and revenue from foreign exchange service fees and third-party commissions.

Worldline’s 55.4% revenue growth was a result of healthy growth in its merchant services business line. This represents an organic growth of 8.2% owing to positive performances in commercial acquiring, payment acceptance, and digital services. The company’s financial services global business line reported 3.1% y-o-y growth with the support of increased volumes and extending its partnership with UniCredit.

Lakala Payment reported robust revenue growth of 27.3% owing to continued growth in its settlement business and upholding its market position.

Cielo is the sole company among the top 20 companies to report a dip in revenue triggered by a depreciation in currency value.

Grandhi concludes: “The pandemic sparked a greater focus on payment infrastructure modernization like QR payments, digital wallets, and tokenization. Now, the companies need to focus on providing better payment infrastructure with enhanced speed and cost efficiency, developing innovative payment methods like voice-enabled payments which benefits both businesses and customers, and improving cyber security measures.”