Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster has officially opened the new Belfast offices of US technology firm CyberSource.

Last year the US firm, which develops secure electronic payment and risk management software solutions, said it would establish a 56-person research and development centre in Belfast, with £840,000 of financial support from Invest Northern Ireland.

It currently has 20 people in place in the city which carry out software development in conjunction with its US operations. The Belfast centre is expected to deliver £2m in wages and salaries a year by 2011.

The Minister said CyberSource was rapidly developing its presence in Northern Ireland.

“The work being carried out by the CyberSource team in Belfast is extremely advanced, a fact which highlights the availability of exceptionally talented and experienced software professionals across Northern Ireland. This strong skills base, combined with our growing reputation as a global knowledge hub, is continuing to attract investment and reinvestment from some of the world’s most dynamic ICT firms,” she said.

Bill McKiernan, chairman and chief executive of CyberSource added: “The Belfast R&D centre has already proven to be a valuable addition to our global R&D operations. With increasing global demand for our services and our commitment to developing the most advanced risk management and secure payment solutions available, this centre has helped us to meet the demands of our customers and further strengthen our reputation for technical innovation.

“The people we have attracted to CyberSource are highly skilled, dedicated and capable engineers from across Northern Ireland. Based on their performance to date, I am confident that the Belfast team will continue to perform strongly as we move into the next stage of planned growth.”