The news: Fiserv acquired CardFree, expanding Clover’s hospitality offerings for merchants, per a press release.

What is CardFree? CardFree’s mobile ordering and payments platform gives merchants customized ordering, payment, and loyalty solutions—everything from drive-through software to kiosk and sub-inventory enablement—that integrates into nearly all POS systems and payment processors.

Why this matters: Fiserv missed its targets for Clover in Q2, sending its stock price tumbling 20%—its biggest drop since the 2008 financial crisis. 

To turn Clover’s performance around, Fiserv has relied on acquisitions and partnerships. Competing POS providers like Square, Toast, and Stripe have made it even more difficult for Clover to compete for SMBs’ loyalty as they release compelling innovations to their product lineups.

Our take: The payoff from Fiserv’s recent acquisitions in Europe, like AIB Merchant Services, will take some time to materialize in earnings. 

If Fiserv can integrate CardFree’s offerings in Clover before it rolls out in Europe, it might get the momentum it needs to thwart more dismal investor reactions for a later earnings release.

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