Earthport Regulatory News (EPO)

18 August 2015

Earthport plc

("Earthport", the "Company" or the "Group")

Earthport launches first fully compliant gateway to provide Real Time Payments via distributed ledger

Solution complements the Company's 'Fastest Payments Possible' suite for cross-border transactions

Earthport (AIM: EPO), the largest open global bank payment network, today announces the enhancement of its global gateway by enabling real-time cross-border payments via a distributed ledger protocol. To enhance this solution, Earthport has partnered with Ripple Labs, the creator and a developer of the Ripple payment protocol and exchange network.

Banks across the world have shown considerable interest in the power of the distributed ledger, but have had difficulty reconciling their compliance requirements with the technology. Earthport is bridging this gap by allowing banks to maintain their current technology and compliance regimes, while also benefitting from this powerful new payment technology.

Gareth Lodge, analyst at financial services advisory firm Celent, said: "The industry is still at the evaluation phase, but almost all agree that distributed ledger has promise. Banks are actively exploring what opportunities decentralised ledger-based solutions could bring. The challenge is finding a way to harness the benefits, yet ensure the absolute essentials - security, compliance and resilience - are met, along with an understanding that payments involve far more than just a movement of value."

Hank Uberoi, CEO of Earthport said: "We are thrilled to be expanding our payment network and furthering our mission to provide 'fastest payments possible' through easy access to distributed ledger. This will enable our clients can realise numerous benefits, including immediate transaction settlement and reduced counterparty risk. We have experienced significant interest in this protocol and our clients are far along into the planning stage for initial testing."

How the Earthport Distributed Ledger Gateway works

By simplifying the cross-border payment system, Earthport's network gives businesses unparalleled transparency into the up-front cost and timescales for making their cross-border payments, so they can accurately track their payment throughout the process. The Earthport Distributed Ledger Gateway transports the funds through the Ripple protocol to record the transaction and leverage its prefunded accounts to provide instant liquidity and the best FX rate. The beneficiary then receives the amount in near real-time.  

In addition, Earthport allows banks to connect to the Ripple network without having to establish their own infrastructure. This solution brings best-in-class AML monitoring, sanction screening, transaction monitoring and KYC tools to enable compliance control together with the power of distributed ledger. Banks that still use legacy formats will be able to send and receive Ripple with Earthport managing format transformation.

Earthport's distributed ledger gateway brings clients many benefits, including:

· Instant payments and liquidity: Ripple represents the fastest way to transfer value between two parties. Each transaction, despite the currency, is delivered and settled between financial institution parties within seconds.

· Mitigation of risk: Pre-funding associated with the model eliminates counter-party risk.

· Transaction cost efficiencies: International transactions are executed at the lowest cost FX bid/ask spread available in this model.

· Compliance-friendly: Earthport, as a registered financial firm, maintains a highly regulated network, and its validation database are an operational component of Earthport's Distributed Ledger Gateway. 

· Ease of adaptability: The Earthport gateway eliminates the need for clients to invest resources, funds and timelines to realize transactions through distributed ledger.

For more information, visit: www.Earthport.com

About Earthport

Earthport is the largest open global bank payment network, serving some of the world's top financial institutions, ecommerce companies and money transfer organizations. With one connection to Earthport, our clients - representing some of the world's most respected brands -- benefit from the wide range of cost effective cross border payment options, coupled with sophisticated validation and compliance services. Our in-country experts across the globe bring solutions to our clients that powers their success.

Earthport is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) on the London Stock Exchange. Earthport plc is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Service Regulations 2009 for the provision of payment services. One of the FinTech50, Earthport has been defined as a disruptive force, transforming the future of finance, and is also the recipient of the 2015 Grant Thornton Technology company of the year award, FStech Retail Systems' 2014 B2B Payments Innovation of the Year, 2015 CFI.co's Best Cross-Border Money Transfer Solutions, FinTech Excellence Awards' 2015 Cross Border Payment Network Of The Year. Find out more at www.earthport.com and on Twitter @Earthport, LinkedIn, Youtube, Slideshare and Google+.

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