50 Years of ACI Worldwide: Shaping the Future of Payments

Back in 1975, in Omaha, Nebraska, a software company was born—driven by fresh thinking and a vision for the future. That company was ACI Worldwide. At a time when computing was undergoing a revolution, ACI recognized the potential of proprietary non-stop computer systems made by Tandem (later absorbed by Compaq and HPE) and seized the opportunity to innovate.

In its early days, ACI focused on developing software for communications systems, but it wasn’t long before the company made its mark in the world of financial technology. One of its first major breakthroughs came with the development of systems for ATMs—technology that would soon become essential to everyday banking.

In 1982, ACI launched what would become an industry game-changer: BASE24. Originally designed to support ATM networks, BASE24 quickly evolved to handle point-of-sale terminals and branch systems as well. BASE24 didn’t just support transactions—it redefined them, setting a new standard for how card payments were processed around the world. BASE24 continues to be the most widely used payment processing platform in the world, processing almost 50% of the world’s electronic transactions.¹

The 1990s marked a pivotal time in ACI’s evolution. In 1995, the company took a major step forward by going public on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol ACIW. This milestone formally signaled ACI’s presence on the global financial stage and underscored its commitment to long-term growth and innovation.

Building on that momentum, ACI expanded its reach within the financial ecosystem. The company moved into wholesale banking payments, demonstrating its readiness to serve a broader spectrum of financial institutions. A major milestone in this effort came in 1998 with the acquisition of IntraNet, which brought ACI Money Transfer System into the fold—enabling robust solutions for wire transfers and ACH transactions.

As the new millennium unfolded, ACI continued to evolve ahead of technology and shifting consumer expectations. The 2000s saw the company expand into online banking, card and merchant management, and retail operations—broadening its reach and deepening its impact. Strategic acquisitions played a key role in this transformation. In 2012, ACI acquired S1 Corporation, enhancing its capabilities across digital banking and payments. That same year, the integration of Distra’s real-time payments technology positioned ACI to meet the rising demand for mobile and instant payment solutions. Today, ACI’s real-time payments capabilities are live in 18 countries, supporting 26 real-time schemes and 10 central infrastructures²—a reflection of its leadership in enabling fast, secure, and scalable payments on a global scale.

As the payments landscape evolved, ACI expanded its portfolio through strategic acquisitions that enhanced capabilities, bolstered security, and fueled innovation. This expansion wasn’t simply about achieving global reach; it was guided by a customer-centric vision, offering greater choice while helping shape the future of payments.

In 2014 and 2015 respectively, ACI acquired Retail Decisions (ReD), a leader in fraud prevention, and PAY.ON, a cutting-edge global payments gateway, solidifying ACI’s ability to support merchants and financial institutions with more secure and seamless transactions.

The focus on innovation didn’t stop there. In 2019, ACI strengthened its position in the digital payments space with the acquisitions of Speedpay and Walletron, further enhancing its bill payment solutions and consumer engagement capabilities. These additions were strategic moves to provide consumers with faster, more secure, and more flexible payment experiences in an increasingly digital world. Today, ACI Speedpay enables 521 million bill pay transactions annually³—a powerful indicator of the trust and scale behind its electronic bill presentment and payments solution.

Each acquisition was a deliberate step forward, reinforcing ACI’s commitment to staying ahead of industry shifts, combating emerging fraud threats, and pioneering new possibilities in eCommerce and omnichannel payment processing. With a diversified portfolio and a relentless drive for progress, ACI continued to shape the future of global payments, ensuring businesses and consumers alike could transact with confidence and convenience.

In 2023, ACI Worldwide appointed Thomas W. Warsop, III as President and CEO. With a deep well of payments industry experience and a sharp eye on the future, Warsop set out to transform the company with renewed energy and strategic clarity to ACI’s mission—to continuously redefine the payments landscape with market leadership and transformative technology. Under his leadership, the company has continued to evolve, embracing change and driving innovation in an increasingly complex payments landscape. Guided by its mission and stewardship, ACI’s payment software solutions handle billions of transactions, enabling the movement of trillions of dollars, every day.

A defining moment of this new chapter came in 2025 with the introduction of ACI Connetic—a cloud-native payments platform that enables banks to accept, transform, and transmit any payment, for any purpose, in any form, from any source in real time. ACI Connetic consolidates account-to-account and card payments into a unified, scalable platform, streamlining operations through real-time processing, AI-driven analytics, and robust fraud prevention. The platform enables customers to modernize in a modular way, allowing them to adopt a common architecture that fits their needs while ensuring scalability and flexibility across all payment types.

ACI Connetic underscores ACI Worldwide’s ongoing commitment to innovation and growth. As the company celebrates 50 years of powering the world’s payments ecosystem, ACI reflects on its technological advances that not only solidified the company as a leader in payments but also drove disruption in the industry.

What lies ahead for ACI? While the future will bring new challenges and opportunities, one thing remains certain: ACI will continue to lead with innovation, through its vision where all people can access and exchange money quickly, easily, and securely, and by helping financial institutions, billing organizations, and merchants navigate an ever-evolving payments landscape with confidence.