ACI Worldwide, a global leader in payments technology, has introduced ACI Connetic for Cards, a next-generation card payments suite designed to modernize card processing within its unified cloud-native payments platform, ACI Connetic. The new solution integrates card payments, account-to-account (A2A) transactions, and AI-powered fraud prevention into a single platform, offering financial institutions a streamlined and future-ready payments infrastructure.
ACI Connetic was first introduced in 2025 as the industry’s first unified cloud-native payments hub designed to support multiple payment types on a single platform. With the addition of Connetic for Cards, ACI is extending this architecture to the core of retail payment systems, enabling banks and financial institutions to manage card transactions alongside other payment methods within one integrated ecosystem.
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The new suite builds on ACI’s long-standing expertise in card processing technologies. The company’s existing acquiring, issuing, and ATM and self-service banking solutions currently process more than 300 billion card transactions each year. By consolidating these capabilities into a modern cloud-native environment, ACI Connetic for Cards aims to simplify operations while delivering greater scalability, resilience, and innovation for financial institutions.
The platform is designed as an enterprise-grade modular solution that supports the full lifecycle of card transactions. It captures and authenticates payment data across multiple channels, intelligently routes transactions to appropriate networks or hosts, and securely manages authorization, clearing, and settlement processes between financial institutions. By unifying these essential payment functions, ACI Connetic for Cards allows banks to modernize their infrastructure while maintaining high levels of performance and reliability.
Although real-time payment systems are gaining traction globally, card payments continue to dominate the retail payments landscape. Driven by the growing popularity of contactless payments, rapid expansion of e-commerce, and the digitization of business-to-business transactions, global card transaction volumes reached approximately 776 billion in 2024. Industry projections suggest that this figure could grow to 1.1 trillion transactions annually by 2029, representing a 43 percent increase.
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As demand for card payments continues to rise, financial institutions are increasingly evaluating whether their existing payment platforms can handle future transaction volumes and evolving customer expectations. Many banks are exploring modernization strategies that allow them to upgrade infrastructure while minimizing operational risk. ACI Connetic for Cards is designed to support this transition by providing a flexible architecture that allows institutions to modernize at their own pace.
Thomas Warsop, CEO and President of ACI Worldwide, emphasized that the launch represents an important milestone in the company’s efforts to redefine payment infrastructure for the digital economy. According to Warsop, when ACI introduced the Connetic platform, it established a new benchmark for how banks could operate in a modern financial environment. With the introduction of Connetic for Cards, the company is extending that standard to core retail payments by modernizing the issuing, acquiring, and ATM capabilities that banks rely on daily.
The platform also introduces a unified operational model for payments processing. Built on a cloud-native and API-first architecture, it integrates fraud management and digital identity capabilities alongside card and A2A payment functions. This approach helps financial institutions improve operational efficiency while strengthening resilience and enabling faster innovation across payment ecosystems.
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Bill Farris, Head of Issuing and Acquiring at ACI Worldwide, explained that banks require payment infrastructure capable of evolving without increasing operational risk. By combining card processing and account-to-account payments within a single platform enhanced with advanced fraud and identity intelligence, ACI Connetic for Cards provides financial institutions with the flexibility to expand services while maintaining system stability.
Industry partners are already recognizing the potential benefits of the unified platform. Peter Hüftlein, Head of Product Accounts at Solaris SE, noted that the cloud-native architecture supports faster innovation and operational simplicity. According to Hüftlein, the platform allows Solaris to simplify payment operations while accelerating the development of new customer experiences across multiple payment types.
The introduction of ACI Connetic for Cards reflects a broader industry shift toward unified, cloud-based payment architectures that support multiple payment methods within a single ecosystem. By bringing together card processing, real-time payments, and AI-driven fraud prevention, ACI Worldwide aims to help financial institutions adapt to the rapidly evolving digital payments landscape while maintaining the reliability and scale required for global payment operations.
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