Virgin Money, founded by Sir Richard Branson, inks deal with TSYS

A company founded by British entrepreneur and business magnate Sir Richard Branson has signed a contract with Columbus-based TSYS to process debit transactions in the United Kingdom.

TSYS said the long-term agreement with Virgin Money is on top of its previous contract with the UK-based bank that offers a variety of services for its more than 3 million customers, including savings accounts, mortgages, credit cards, currency services and pensions. TSYS already processes Virgin Money’s cards portfolio in the UK.

“We are building a flexible solution to enable us to issue contactless MasterCard debit cards and the new TSYS solution will help us to improve our service to current account customers and help them manage their money more easily,” Virgin Money Chief Operating Officer Mark Parker said in a statement.

Virgin Money was founded by Branson and is now owned by Virgin Group, a conglomerate that operates the bank and more than 400 other businesses around the world. London-based Virgin Group is owned by Branson and other entities.

Branson, 66, also a major philanthropist, was knighted at Buckingham Palace in 2000 for his entrepreneur endeavors that have included a record company, an airline and a mobile phone operation. He also has been involved in a variety of humanitarian efforts.

TSYS, headquartered in downtown Columbus, is a global credit-card and payments processor with more than 11,000 employees worldwide. About 4,500 or so are employed in Columbus.

This story was originally published December 2, 2016 at 12:14 PM with the headline "Virgin Money, founded by Sir Richard Branson, inks deal with TSYS."