ZACKSยท2025-08-19 15:00Group 1 - Royal Bank of Canada (RY) and Bank of Montreal (BMO) are considering the sale of their joint venture Moneris, potentially valuing the business at approximately $2 billion [1][8] - Moneris, established in 2000, is one of Canada's largest payment processors, handling about one-third of all business transactions in the country and generating around $700 million in annual revenues [2][8] - The decision to sell Moneris is not finalized, and RY and BMO may opt to retain part or all of the business [2] Group 2 - The North American payments industry has seen rapid digitization, prompting many banks to divest their payments operations, with buyers often being payments companies or private equity firms attracted to the recurring revenue [3] - Recent collaborations in the industry include Fiserv Inc. partnering with TD Bank Group to enhance TD's merchant business and acquiring part of TD's merchant processing operations in Canada [4] Group 3 - Year-to-date, shares of RY and BMO have increased by 13.2% and 16.5%, respectively, which is below the industry's growth of 35.2% [5] - Both RY and BMO currently hold a Zacks Rank of 3 (Hold) [6]