Bill Me Later Inc. plans to add as many as 250 local workers and is also growing nationally as it moves toward a public offering with the financial backing of undisclosed local partners, CEO Gary Marino said.
The Timonium, MD-based online alternative payment company is opening a service center in the Hunt Valley business district with an initial staff of about 70. That number could eventually more than triple. As its products become increasingly used in online shopping, there is more need for manpower to process purchases.
Company leaders think consistent, 50-percent growth each year could lead to an initial public offering in the near future, but they’re waiting for the stock market to settle, Marino said. As consumers feel more comfortable and safe making purchases online, the market for Bill Me Later and its competitors is expected to grow, and Marino said he’s committed to handling that locally.
“We like where we are right now,” Marino said. “We like the talent pool, we like the economics. How long it’s able to secure our needs, I’m not quite sure. But in the foreseeable future, there’s no need to uproot that.”
Bill Me Later’s service is found on 900 online retailers’ Web sites and acts similarly to store credit. No credit card information is required when purchasing; buyers can make plans to repay Bill Me Later with credit cards at a later date.
The company’s headquarters take up slightly more than half of a Timonium office building. The new service center in Hunt Valley contains about 26,000 square feet. Bill Me Later, formerly known as I4 Commerce, employs about 265.
Workers there will handle things like customer service, help desk service and transaction management, Marino said. Bill Me Later also opened an information technology office in downtown San Francisco earlier this month that will add another 25 workers.
While the company started with the backing of venture capital – about $80 million by 2006, as well as $640 million in debt financing from Citigroup later that year – it has moved on to what Marino called “institutional partnerships.” One of those partnerships is with marquee online retailer Amazon.com.
Bill Me Later also is being bankrolled by local financiers who Marino declined to name but called “our folks downtown.”
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