Tenn. re-ups Tier for child-support payment services

Tier Technologies Inc. has won a $6.9 million contract renewal from the Tennessee Department of Human Resources to continue operating the state's child-support payment processing center, the company announced today. The three-year contract has options for two more years.

Tier of Reston, Va., will provide enhancements to its offerings, including a Web-based child-support payment option. This will give the state and its constituents various electronic payment options.

The new payment functionality will be provided by Tier's Official Payments Corp. subsidiary, the company said.

Tier began providing Tennessee with child-support payment processing services in 1999. From 1999 to 2003, Tier processed more than 11.5 million child support payments totaling more than $1.4 billion to Tennessee's custodial parents.

Earlier this week, Tier announced it will acquire EPOS Corp. of Auburn, Ala., for $19 million in a cash and stock deal. The company, which provides interactive communications and payment processing solutions, will strengthen Tier's offerings in processing transactions and implementing package software solutions for state and local government and postsecondary education institutions, company officials said. The acquisition will add 80 new employees to the company.

Tier offers transaction processing and packaged software and systems integration services to the public sector. The company has more than 830 employees and annual sales of $127.1 million, according to Hoover's Online of Austin, Texas.