Bacs to the future for Bangor firm.

Byline: DAVID JONES 

MORE jobs are being created at a North Wales company after its American parent announced it was buying a Manchester-based business for pounds 2.7m.

Fundtech, a market leader in global transaction banking solutions, is acquiring InterSoftware (UK) through its Bangor-based division Accountis Europe.

The acquisition expands the company's UK corporate payments customer base to 8,500, representing over one-third of all companies processing Bacs payments. Bacs is the electronic payment processing system used by banks and others.

The acquisition will mean further growth for Accountis at its Parc Menai base. The company currently has 33 employees and is recruiting five more this month.

Accountis sales director Ifor Williams said: "There is potential for continued growth in Accountis because we are in an area that is expanding even during the recession. The volume of Bacs transactions is up by about four per cent per annum.

"So we are projecting more growth in the business and that will result in the recruitment of more staff to enhance and develop new products." Peter Radcliffe, Accountis' executive chairman, said: "This acquisition firmly positions Accountis as the leading player in the UK payments market.

"With access to 7,600 new corporate customers, we have an unique opportunity to accelerate the growth of Accountis' wide range of payment services, including our EIPP (electronic invoicing presentment and payment) Network." Reuven BenMenachem, Fundtech chief executive, said: "This acquisition significantly expands our corporate customer base, enabling us to provide a wide range of leading-edge payment services directly to corporates and via our existing banking channels.

"This move supports our long-term goal of being the premier provider for corporate financial supply chain services to corporations and financial institutions globally." Fundtech, based in Jersey City, USA, was founded in 1993, and is a leading provider of software and services to banks of all sizes around the world. Revenues last year were about pounds 85m.

Accountis provides secure financial document exchange and payment systems to companies globally. It processes more than one million transactions a day, including international electronic invoicing, secure document exchange and payment services such as Bacstel-IP, direct debit collections and card balance transfers.

InterSoftware's 2008 sales were pounds 1.1m..