RESTON, Va. -- (BUSINESS WIRE) --

Transaction Network Services (TNS) is strengthening its payments business with two high-level senior appointments which will help TNS deliver on its ambitious growth plans.

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George Zirkel joins TNS as Senior Vice President and Head of Global Payments Strategy. He will be based at the company’s headquarters in Reston, USA. John Tait takes on the role of Managing Director of TNS’ Payments Division for the Asia Pacific region and will be based in TNS’ office in Sydney, Australia.

Lisa Shipley, Executive Vice President and Managing Director of TNS Payment Network Solutions, said: “I’m excited that George and John have joined our growing business. Their broad experience will be an asset to TNS as we cement our market leading position and build on our success.

“It is an exciting time for the payments industry as eCommerce continues its rapid global expansion, alternative networks and payment adjacent products gain market share, and legacy network connectivity infrastructure services consolidate. TNS is in a strong position with its secure, scalable, global, yet easy to access network to support current services and accelerate innovation in the payments industry. Steering TNS through this critical time requires a team that has strong operational and strategic experience. I’m confident George and John will be significant contributors to ensuring that our clients have the products and services they need from TNS to be successful.”

In his role, Mr Zirkel will be responsible for setting the strategic direction for the company’s Payments Division and helping to align the objectives of the global product, sales, development and operations teams with that strategy.

Mr Tait will head up TNS’ payments business across the Asia Pacific region, which includes operations in Thailand, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Taiwan and India as well as Australia. TNS also serves customers in New Zealand, the Philippines and Indonesia.

Prior to joining TNS, Mr Zirkel was Chief Operating Officer of TabbedOut, a mobile payment app for bars and restaurants with inbuilt CRM capabilities, and Mr Tait was an Executive Director at financial services provider Indue.

Both Mr Zirkel and Mr Tait are industry veterans with more than 20 years’ experience each within the Payments industry. Mr Zirkel has previously held several senior positions at First Data, as well as roles at SurePay and FleetBoston Financial Corporation, and a board position with AIB Merchant Services. Mr Tait has also worked in senior executive posts at First Data after beginning his career at National Australia Bank.

Commenting on his appointment, Mr Zirkel said: “I have an exciting challenge ahead of me. TNS has strong foundations and an enviable reputation for delivering secure, reliable and innovative payments services globally. My recent experience within alternative payments means I am ideally placed to help TNS explore its potential in this area as well as make strategic recommendations across the wider business.”

Mr Tait added: “I am pleased to be taking the helm for TNS in the Asia Pacific region. I am passionate about customer service and relationship management, and engaging with our customers and business partners will be one of my first objectives. This will enable me to ensure our strategic objectives and the solutions we deliver continue to align with our customers’ aspirations.”

Since it was founded in 1990, TNS has secured a strong payments heritage and expanded to provide services in more than 60 countries across Europe, the Americas and the Asia Pacific regions. The organization is a Level 1 PCI DSS certified service provider and its secure network is supported 24x7x365 by TNS’ Network Operating Centers around the world. For more information about TNS, please visit www.tnsi.com.

ENDS

About Transaction Network Services:

Transaction Network Services (TNS) is a leading global provider of data communications and interoperability solutions. TNS offers a broad range of networks and innovative value-added services which enable transactions and the exchange of information in diverse industries such as retail, banking, payment processing, telecommunications and the financial markets.

Founded in 1990 in the United States, TNS has grown steadily and now provides services in over 60 countries across the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific region, with our reach extending to many more. TNS has designed and implemented multiple data networks which support a variety of widely accepted communications protocols and are designed to be scalable and accessible by multiple methods.

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CONTACT:

TNS
Clare Cockroft
PR Director
T: +44 (0)114 292 0163
E: pr@tnsi.com
or
Jo Moorwood
Senior Director, Marketing Communications
+1 703 814 8065 

Left to right - John Tait and George Zirkel of TNS (Photo: Business Wire)