With more than 4,100 employees in Nebraska and about a dozen locations in Lincoln and Omaha, fast-growing Fiserv – a global provider of payments and financial services technology solutions – is entering its fourth year since acquiring Omaha-based First Data in July 2019.
With corporate offices at 6855 Pacific St. on the University of Nebraska at Omaha’s South Campus, Fiserv is expanding its footprint among its Nebraska operations. The local teams support the firm’s commerce-enabling solutions, account processing and credit card transactions, and payment card functions for some of the world’s largest financial institutions and fintech companies.
George Wehbe, senior vice president and head of output solutions, said the firm serves about 4,000 to 5,000 institutional customers in the U.S., 24/7, 365 days a year.
About 25% of the activity in Omaha comes through the 100 million credit, prepaid and debit cards that are annually personalized in Omaha. Another 65% of the revenue pie is for printing work done for clients. About 2.4 billion envelopes are run per year with 2.7 pages on average per envelope. Printing machines 18-feet wide by 80-feet long represent updated technology that gives Fiserv needed high-volume efficiencies.
“Our Omaha operations didn’t miss a beat for our clients during the pandemic,” Wehbe said. “We had a business continuity plan in place and tested it yearly.”
Facility Upgrade
About five years ago Wehbe announced an ambitious upgrade project that involved an update to each of Fiserv’s buildings with an addition to the corporate office and three structures in the 7300 block of Pacific Street that includes a print shop, a data center and additional administrative space.
Other facilities being upgraded include a print shop at 805 Crown Point in Carter Lake, Iowa, an Irvington plant used to personalize cards, plus a 400-employee administrative location on Yankee Hill Road in Lincoln.
Wehbe said the facilities upgrade shows Fiserv’s leveraging of its sizable real estate portfolio as a strategic tool to help the firm best meet client needs, serve associates, and achieve set organizational goals that include employee engagement, increased productivity and enhanced client service.
In terms of employee numbers, Nebraska is the largest operation in the Fiserv family, followed by Atlantic, New Jersey, which has 2,500 employees.
Renovations included open space planning, natural daylight and internal lighting improvements, and a more effective balance between private and collaborative workspace. In addition, increased availability of conference rooms, video conferencing spaces and a Tech Cafe for end-user support, centralized training and conferencing center have been included.
Wehbe said between its Lincoln and Omaha operations, Fiserv accepts 30 or more interns annually.
“We’re already finding that the modernization of our locations appeals to them,” he said. “And the commercial areas around our locations make things feel like a San Francisco environment.”
Wehbe stressed that the importance of the Omaha operations cannot be overstated to the growth of Fiserv. The multinational company’s future planning is based on the contributions of the Nebraska workforce.
Divisions within the company include merchant acquiring, account processing and issuer solutions.
Fiserv sponsors an analyst program that offers a two-year opportunity for recent graduates that stresses early hiring of UNO, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton University students that enables participants to engage in two, one-year assignments across one of the business units.
Wehbe said the Greater Omaha Chamber’s Careerockit program has been important in introducing high school students to fintech/tech careers. Firserv’s three Omaha production facilities utilize employees who have training and skill sets taught in Metropolitan Community College’s associate’s technical engineer program.
Community Grants
In June Wehbe announced that Fiserv was rolling out a multi-market corporate community grant project called Back2Business that connects diverse small businesses with critical resources, including complimentary small business-specific coaching, leading technology solutions such as Clover, and community partners to award approximately $1 million in grants to minority-owned small businesses in Nebraska.
The first group of grants awarded went to Ashlei Spivey of Best Burger, Gladys Harrison of Big Mama’s Kitchen & Catering, and Tim Collins of TC Lifestyle Fit. All funds have since been allocated, with $10,000 grants going to 100 local small business owners in all.
Wehbe said the local program is part of a global Fiserv initiative in which the company provides $50 million to minority-owned small businesses.
6855 Pacific St., Omaha 68106
Website: www.fiserv.com
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