The Clearing House, which settles more than $2 trillion in payments a day, will add 200 jobs in Charlotte paying $162,322 on average, with up to $2.43 million in state incentives.

The Clearing House, a payments company that moves trillions of dollars for banks every day, will open a Charlotte office and add 200 jobs in Mecklenburg County. The company plans to invest $11.5 million in the expansion.

Gov. Josh Stein announced the project Tuesday in a news release. The state’s Economic Investment Committee approved a job grant for the company the same day.

The jobs

Pay will vary by position, but the average salary will be $162,322, the release says. That is well above the Mecklenburg County average of $90,706. The 200 jobs could add more than $32.4 million a year in payroll to the region.

The release does not say where in Charlotte the office will be, when it opens or when hiring starts.

Who The Clearing House is

The company was founded in 1853 and is both a payments company and a banking association. It runs some of the main systems that move money between U.S. financial institutions:

  • wire transfers
  • ACH payments, the network behind direct deposit and automatic bill pay
  • real-time payments
  • check-image exchange

Together these clear and settle more than $2 trillion each business day, the release says.

“We’re excited to open a new office in Charlotte, one of the nation’s leading banking and financial services hubs,” President and CEO David Watson said. He said the city would let the company build on its “longstanding presence in North Carolina.”

“Charlotte is the second-largest financial center in the nation,” Stein said.

The state incentive

The company’s Job Development Investment Grant could pay it up to $2,430,000 over 12 years. The state pays only after the departments of Commerce and Revenue confirm each year that the company has met its job and investment targets, according to the release.

The state estimates the project will grow North Carolina’s economy by $1.3 billion over the grant’s 12-year term. Mecklenburg is in Tier 3, the state’s most prosperous tier of counties, so the deal also moves up to $810,000 into a state fund that helps rural communities pay for infrastructure upgrades.

Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte are listed as partners on the project. The governor’s release does not give the amount of any local incentive.

What it means for you

  • If you work in banking, payments or technology, this is a new employer in a field that pays well above the county average. The company had not posted a hiring date in the announcement; watch its own careers page.
  • For taxpayers, the state grant is paid only if the jobs and the investment actually arrive, checked each year.

Our Uptown Charlotte guide covers the city’s banking district.