First Data — Making a Statement

Those activities are substantial. The firm sits atop the pinnacle of the steadily growing credit card processing world, handling the transactions of more than 415 million card accounts on behalf of 1,500 institutions and retailers.

Its presence in the customer messaging industry is equally impressive. First Data prints and mails more than 1.7 billion account statements and customer letters a year. Its annual postage bill of more than $500 million makes it one of the largest customers of the U.S. Postal Service.