Fiserv exploring sale of debit card network to big US banks, source says

July 6 (Reuters) - Payments firm ‌Fiserv has held ​talks ​with U.S. banks including JPMorgan and Bank of America to sell its payments infrastructure business that handles debit card transactions, ‌a source familiar with the matter said on Monday.

Here are ⁠some details:

• The potential divestment comes as the payments-focused financial technology firm pursues a ‌turnaround plan to improve performance ‌after a difficult year marked by a significant decline in market value and substantial fallout from leadership changes.

• Other banks that have ​held discussions in recent months include Wells Fargo and PNC Financial Services Group, the source said, adding that no deal is certain ⁠and the discussions could still fall apart. The source declined to be named as the information ​is not public.

• The STAR Network business of Fiserv provides the infrastructure that routes debit, ATM, e-commerce, and transactions ​between banks, merchants, and consumers. It serves ‌more than 115 million debit cardholders, using cards issued by over 2,800 financial institutions, according to Fiserv's website.

• ⁠Any deal would also come as America's largest banks seek to take advantage of a more favorable regulatory regime to expand their businesses.

• The Wall Street ⁠Journal, which first reported the talks earlier on Monday, said that an acquisition by ​large U.S. banks would enable the lenders to bypass federal debit-card fee caps.

• Some companies that looked at the Fiserv network have already decided it would be ‌unlikely for them to move forward, as they expressed concern that such a deal could prompt backlash from ‌lawmakers, regulators and merchants, the source added.

• Fiserv's shares, which are down 23% ⁠so far this year, rose ‌4.4% in after-hours trading ​on Monday.

(Reporting by Milana Vinn in New York, Natalia Bueno Rebolledo in Mexico City; Editing by Maju Samuel and ‌Rashmi Aich)

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