Financial technology company Global Payments on Friday said it plans to add more than 200 jobs in the region as part of a broader shift in its Atlanta area footprint.
The payments processor said it will expand its research and development operations at its current main office on Glenlake Parkway in Sandy Springs, while shifting top executives and headquarters functions to the new Three Alliance Center skyscraper in Buckhead next year.
Atlanta officials said recently the company planned to move its headquarters and 150 employees to Three Alliance, which is currently under construction.
Global spokeswoman Amy Corn said the new jobs created would include software developers, engineers, business analysts and key financial positions.
David Mangum, the company’s president and chief operating officer, credited the region’s high-tech talent as a key reason for expanding locally.
He said in a news release from the state’s economic development department that Global’s “transformative growth and company performance position us for continued investment in metro Atlanta, and Georgia is the ideal location for a worldwide payments technology leader.”
If Global creates 200 jobs it would be eligible for at least $3 million in state tax credits. That figure could climb significantly for qualifying high-paying jobs.
Atlanta offered Global a $75,000 grant from its Economic Opportunity Fund. Sandy Springs officials recently approved a $295,000 incentive package for 125 net new jobs at the Glenlake campus, according to the Sandy Springs Reporter.
Global, which has more than 8,500 employees worldwide, recently completed a merger with Heartland Payment Systems.
Global’s revenue was $2.9 billion in the fiscal year ended in May, up 4.5 percent from the year before. Profit dipped 2.3 percent in the period, however, to $271.7 million.
Georgia is hub in the world's payments ecosystem.
About 70 percent of the debit, credit and gift card transactions in the U.S. each year are processed by companies with major Georgia operations. It’s an industry that helps directly employ more than 40,000 people in the Peach State, according to the American Transaction Processors Coalition.
A number of FinTech companies have announced plans to shift major operations into the city in recent years, including Worldpay US and NCR, often with the stated purchase of tapping into the talent from Georgia Tech and other research institutions.
But Sandy Springs also is home to a number of FinTech firms, including First Data and Elavon, and both in recent years established new innovation centers in the northern suburb.
“Companies are increasingly looking for new opportunities to attract and retain valuable talent,” said Chris White, market leader for real estate services firm Savills Studley, who represented Global in these moves.
