The payments segment alone underwent a 44% rise in volume on a year-to-year basis, and the industry's top five largest deals also occurred in this segment this year. The highest value transaction was Bain Capital, Advent International and ATP Private Equity partners' acquisition of Nets Holding A/S, a provider of payments, information and digital identity solutions, a deal totaling $3.14 billion.

Furthermore, the mobile payments subsector saw its largest deal in 2014 with Intuit's acquisition of Check for $360 million.

In the capital markets segment, however, transaction volume fell 9% over the past year. This decline follows a 17% improvement from 2012 to 2013. But in terms of value, four of the industry's top ten largest deals this year occurred in the capital markets segment, with the largest being the $1.2 billion Centerbridge Capital Partners' acquisition of IPC Information Systems, a trading communication technology provider.

Other notable transactions in this segment include the acquisition of Ipreo Holdings for $926 million by Blackstone Group and Goldman Sachs' Merchant Bnking Division from Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co (KKR). Deal Logic, a data and analytics provider for financial institutions, was also acquired this year by a consortium led by The Carlyle Group for $700 million. 

The report also reveals that deal activity in the Banking segment declined 8% relative to 2013, but this marks a return to the sector's level in 2012.

"Banks are facing numerous financial pressures, including tighter profit margins and increased operating demands," says Peter Ognibene, managing director at Berkery Noyes. "Some factors contributing to these conditions are uncertainty about the regulatory environment and the ability to maintain compliance without too severely impacting the bottom line."

 "A fully integrated payments approach has the potential to inspire new product development and improve service levels. Payment hubs and ACH electronic transfer payments can also lead to economies of scale. And in order to counteract fees passed onto customers, banks have recognized the need to improve their payment offerings to better compete with one another," Ognibene says. 

"Big corporations tend to wait for one or two smaller companies to compete with similar payments technologies, then focus on the one that survives as a company to approach for a potential acquisition," says John Guzzo, managing director at Berkery Noyes.

"In other instances, a company may be wiser to continue concentrating on its own core competencies and simply lease good technology because developing e-wallets or point of sale technology is an expensive endeavor." Guzzo continues, "Payments companies may also be on the lookout for acquisition targets that provide compliance or security for card-not-present transactions, particularly as the U.S. shifts to EMV cards at the physical point of sale. Having technology to verify and authenticate the person on the phone or initiating an online transaction is going to be a huge area."