170 news jobs on the way as US firm announces expansion plan

The expansion will take the number of jobs at the technology development centre established in 2013 to 240.

Building on the success of its Northern Ireland engineering division, Cayan has established a new Merchant Services Support function at its Belfast based City Quay’s offices, which will account for the planned growth.

Around 100 posts are already in place as the centre described by Cayan chief technology officer Paul Vienneau as “incredibly significant to our overall business strategy”.

The roles on offer include client services representatives, team leaders and case managers.

Explaining the decision to expand in Belfast, Mr Vienneau said the Northern Ireland development team had consistently delivering product engineering excellence.

“We want to leverage that excellence further and build an outstanding Merchant Services Support operation to comprehensively support our Unified Commerce Solution™ Suite and our Genius® platform.

“We are delighted with the growth of our Belfast operation to date and locating our customer service team alongside our Product Development/Engineering operations in Belfast will offer increased operating efficiencies.

“The positive work ethic of the Northern Ireland work force combined with our ongoing relationship with Invest NI is enabling us to recruit the new staff we need to support the growth of our group operations.”

Speaking during a visit to the centre, Invest NI executive director of business and sector development Jeremy Fitch said the Belfast operation had grown into an “exemplary software development operation, producing industry leading payment processing products”.

“Cayan’s decision to locate its primary customer services function in Belfast represents a major reinvestment for the company and demonstrates its confidence in Northern Ireland,” he said.

Invest NI has offered Cayan £680,000 in employment grant support.

“The 170 jobs being created through this investment will generate over £3.6million in annual salaries for the local economy and offer valuable employment opportunities for a range of job seekers including school leavers and graduates.

“Furthermore, the extensive training Cayan offers new staff will contribute to the development of Northern Ireland’s skills base.”