Employers
The Clearing House Payments Company, which operates core U.S. payment networks for banks, plans to open a new office in Charlotte and add 200 jobs in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein announced Tuesday, Oct. 27. The company said it will invest $11.5 million in the expansion.
The pay attached to the plan stands out. According to the N.C. Department of Commerce, wages for the new positions will vary, but the average annual salary is set at $162,322, compared with an average of $90,706 across Mecklenburg County. If all 200 positions are filled, the state estimates a potential annual payroll of more than $32.4 million for the region.
Those are planned jobs and projected figures. Neither the state nor the company said when the Charlotte office will open, when hiring will begin, or which kinds of roles will be based there.
Who the employer is
Founded in 1853, The Clearing House describes itself as one of the nation’s most experienced payments companies and banking associations. According to the state’s release, it operates payment infrastructure that clears and settles more than $2 trillion each business day through wire, ACH, real-time payment and check-image exchange services.
The company already has a footprint in North Carolina. Its careers page says its employees work primarily in New York City and Winston-Salem. In the announcement, chief executive David Watson said Charlotte would let the company “build on our longstanding presence in North Carolina” while strengthening client relationships in the region. The company’s own summary of the announcement says the office will also provide access to leading financial services talent.
How the state incentive works
The project was approved Tuesday by North Carolina’s Economic Investment Committee for a Job Development Investment Grant, or JDIG. Under the agreement, the company could be reimbursed up to $2,430,000 over the grant’s 12-year term.
The money is not paid up front. State payments are made only after the departments of Commerce and Revenue verify each year that the company has met its incremental job creation and investment targets, so the grant is tied to positions actually created rather than to the announcement.
The state estimates the project will grow North Carolina’s economy by $1.3 billion over the 12 years and projects a return of 282% on public dollars, or $3.82 in state revenue for every dollar of potential cost. Those are the state’s projections, not measured results.
Because Mecklenburg County is classified as Tier 3 in the state’s economic tier system, the agreement also calls for moving as much as $810,000 into the state’s Industrial Development Fund Utility Account, which helps rural communities pay for infrastructure upgrades to attract business.
What it means for Charlotte job seekers
Stein called Charlotte the nation’s second-largest financial center, and Commerce Secretary Lee Lilley called North Carolina “a national hub for the finance and fintech sectors.” The Clearing House’s plan adds a payments-infrastructure employer to that market, at an average wage well above the county figure.
An average salary of $162,322 does not mean every position will pay that much. The state said wages will vary, and an average can be pulled up by a smaller number of senior roles. No salary range, job titles or hiring timeline were released.
Other partners named in the project include the Economic Development Partnership of North Carolina, the Commerce Division of Workforce Solutions, the North Carolina Community College System, Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte. Job seekers interested in the new office should watch The Clearing House’s careers page, since none of the 200 positions has been described in detail yet.
Sources
- North Carolina Department of Commerce, “Governor Stein Announces Finance Services Company to Invest $11.5 Million in Charlotte Expansion,” October 27, 2026. https://www.commerce.nc.gov/news/press-releases/2026/10/27/governor-stein-announces-finance-services-company-invest-115-million-charlotte-expansion
- The Clearing House, “North Carolina Governor Stein Announces The Clearing House to Expand to Charlotte,” October 27, 2026. https://www.theclearinghouse.org/payment-systems/Articles/2026/10/North-Carolina-Governor-Stein-Announces-The-Clearing-House-to-Expand-to-Charlotte
- The Clearing House, “Careers,” accessed October 28, 2026. https://www.theclearinghouse.org/About/Careers
Featured photo: Uptown Charlotte, North Carolina, seen from First Ward Park, July 13, 2021. Representative image; not The Clearing House's Charlotte office, whose location has not been announced. Photo: Bruce Emmerling, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Cropped from the original.
