ROCKLAND (AP) – Boston Financial Data Services Inc. is moving into MBNA’s former waterfront property and plans to hire 100 people by year’s end, officials said Tuesday.

Headquartered in Quincy, Mass., Boston Financial Data Services provides services to the mutual fund and employer retirement plan markets. The company has call center and processing operations in Boston, Kansas City, Mo., and Lawrence, Kan. Its 116 clients represent more than 25 million accounts and 6,800 funds.

“The building once housed MBNA and much of that company’s highly trained and competent work force remains in the area. It was a good fit for Boston Financial,” said Matt Jacobson, president of Maine & Company, a nonprofit corporation which helped to facilitate the deal.

Although Boston Financial will initially hire 100 people, the company expects its work force to expand to 250 within two years, Jacobson said in a statement.

Boston Financial will lease the entire two-story Rockland Harbor Park complex, which has more than 70,000 square feet of space. The city’s planning commission recently gave its approval to add 115 parking spaces, bringing the total number of parking spaces on the property to 483.

The Rockland Harbor Park complex was shut down by the MBNA credit card company, which was later acquired by Bank of America. MBNA had about 300 workers at the Rockland call center in 2005 when it was announced that the center would close.

AP-ES-06-03-08 1519EDT