Fiserv's Small Business Index declined one point to 143 in January 2026, as seasonal shifts and severe winter storms impacted consumer behaviour. Year-over-year sales grew 0.7%, but month-over-month sales fell 0.5%. Consumer foot traffic recorded its sharpest year-over-year decline of 2% since mid-2022. Discretionary spending softened, falling 0.4% year over year, whilst essential sales remained strong at 2.2% growth. Professional services showed strength, growing 5.1% compared to January 2025, with tax preparation services particularly robust. Restaurants faced challenges, with sales dropping 1.8% year over year as foot traffic declined 3.6%. Limited-service restaurants saw the steepest declines at 3.4%. Retail remained essentially flat, though core categories including grocery and clothing delivered modest gains of 1.5% year over year.

Fiserv has partnered with Affirm to bring pay-over-time capabilities to debit card programmes for US banks and credit unions. The collaboration allows thousands of Fiserv clients to offer buy now, pay later options without building new lending products. The integration enables debit cardholders to split eligible purchases into fixed payments with no late or hidden fees directly through their bank's mobile app. Affirm will handle real-time underwriting, loan origination and funding, whilst Fiserv manages technical integration into its digital solutions. Consumers can access Affirm's network of nearly 420,000 merchants, with custom financing offers including 0% APR available at leading retailers. The partnership builds on Fiserv and Affirm's 2022 collaboration integrating buy now, pay later into Commerce Hub for merchants.