Equals Gp Regulatory News (EQLS)

FairFX Group plc

("FairFX" or "the Group" or "the Company")

Operational Update

FairFX, the low cost multi-currency payments service, is pleased to provide the market with the following operational update for the period 1 January 2016 to 23 May 2016.

Highlights:

· Launched full-service FairFX mobile app ahead of schedule

· Positive retail business momentum seen in April continues into May

· Corporate card platform maintains strong growth

· Summer marketing campaign set to launch on 6 June

In its 2015 full-year results announcement on 16 April, the Company outlined its key strategic goals to be completed before the peak summer season for the retail card product. The initiatives included a deployment of a new app, further enhancements to the FairFX website, and confirmation of the marketing strategy for June and July.

Previously targeted for launch in June this year, the new FairFX mobile app has been introduced to the market ahead of schedule, underlining the efficiency of the Company's development team. The FairFX mobile app, for both iOS & Android, provides the Group with a second channel through which it can acquire new customers, which have historically been acquired via the FairFX website alone. Given the growing trend of consumers using mobile as their primary means to perform retail transactions, we expect the FairFX mobile app to deliver a step-change in customer acquisition for the Group. The new version of the app also has a higher level of functionality than its predecessor and is expected to significantly enhance customers' experience and convenience in performing their FX banking requirements in-app whilst on the go.

The Company can also report that work to further improve the FairFX website is now in advanced stages and the enhanced site is expected to go live before the Company's TV campaign lands on 6th June.

The FairFX TV commercial has been updated and is expected to have a greater impact than in 2015, with more time devoted to explaining the product and providing a call to action. The targeting of the TV channels, entertainment shows and times has also been significantly enhanced for 2016 as a consequence of the Company improving its data analytics capabilities. In addition, the TV campaign will be augmented by improvements made to our digital marketing capabilities.

The Group anticipates that the combination of the above developments will increase traffic to the site and, once landed, improve the customer conversion rate. At the same time, existing customers will benefit from an improved user experience, which will make it easier for them to transact.

The positive momentum experienced towards the end of Q1 and in early April, reported at the last update, has continued to date. This is despite uncertainty caused by the European referendum, which is affecting some travel-related businesses. Retail Card loads and spending on a year-to-date basis are both running ahead of 2015. For the retail business overall, the most recent week (ending 22nd May 2016) was a record for the year in terms of turnover, which reached a level not experienced since July 2015. The Corporate business has also continued to experience good levels of growth and is expected to benefit from a number of related platform improvements due to be made in H2 2016.

FairFX CEO Ian Strafford-Taylor commented: 

"We are encouraged by the progress made since our last announcement in terms of all our KPI's, ranging from new customers to loading and spending on retail cards. The new mobile app is another example of our commitment to investing in the platform and improving customer experience. Crucially, because we can now acquire customers via the app, this is in place for the launch of the summer marketing campaign, which includes an updated TV advert and targeted digital marketing initiatives. FairFX is well positioned to continue its strong growth and we look forward to updating the market on further progress at our first-half trading update."

ENDS

About FairFX

FairFX is a leading international payment services provider, incorporated in the UK in 2005. The Company has developed a cloud-based peer-to-peer payments platform that enables personal and business customers to make easy, low-cost multi-currency payments in a broad range of currencies and across a range of FX products all via one integrated system. The FairFX platform facilitates payments either direct to Bank Accounts or at 30 million merchants and over 1 million ATM's in a broad range of countries globally via Mobile apps, the Internet, SMS, wire transfer and MasterCard/VISA debit cards.

FairFX operates within the rapidly growing online multi-currency payments market and provides transactional services to both personal and business customers through four channels being Currency Cards, Physical Currency, FairPay and Dealing. The Currency Card and Physical Currency offerings facilitate multiple overseas payments at points of sale and ATM's whereas the FairPay and Dealing products support wire transfer foreign exchange transactions direct to Bank Accounts.

In addition, FairFX has entered into a number of "white-label" arrangements for the use of its P2P matching platform. Customers include easyjet, ThinkMoney and Pitney Bowes. FairFX has also partnered with Concur Technologies, Inc. a leading provider of integrated travel and expense management solutions with over 25 million users globally. Such relationships provide strong support for FairFX's customer acquisition strategy.