USA Developments

10 Aug 2006 09:00

Earthport PLC10 August 2006 10 August 2006 Earthport plc ("Earthport" or "the Company") USA Developments Earthport plc, the UK - based, AIM listed company specialising in the provisionof secure electronic payment services, announces: * an agreement with Smart Card Marketing Systems Inc ("Smart Card") * an agreement with Global Cash CardTM * the establishment of a joint venture for Automated Clearing House ("ACH")1 processing * an agreement with MyECheck Recognising the business opportunities for the Earthport Universal PaymentNetwork ("UPN") infrastructure existing in the USA, both for domestic andinternational payments, the Company is engaging with a widening range of paymentproducts. These agreements and the joint venture will enable the Company toexpand its business in the USA, which commenced with the payments partnershipwith BurnLounge and the agreement with Xoom announced earlier in the year. Smart Card Marketing Systems Earthport has secured an agreement with Smart Card whereby Earthport will beSmart Card's preferred aggregator for debiting and crediting of funds forinternational services. Smart Card is a leading provider of prepaid cards, stored value smart cards andpayment transaction management services. It will utilise Earthport's extensiveglobal banking network and UPN to offer a complete funding and money remittanceservice to compete with existing industry leaders on an international level. Global Cash CardTM Earthport will provide international card loading infrastructure for The GlobalCash CardTM service, which provides an ATM/Debit or Debit MasterCard Cardoffered by World Processing L.T.D. It is estimated that the stored value prepaid ATM market is worth nearly US$1.5trillion with a cardable volume of over US$70 billion. Presently, it isestimated that there are in excess of 1 billion transactions generating US$35billion in sales volume. Global Cash CardTM is the brand name for its prepaidATM cash debit card or as sometimes referred to, stored-value card. The GlobalCash CardTM works with a personal identification number or PIN and provides asafe, convenient, and easy way to obtain cash, make purchases, and transfermoney to family, friends, and employees. Global Cash CardTM is primarily aimed at the Send Money Home market and theunbanked sector. ACH Cash Dedicated to improving existing ACH volume, Earthport has decided to singlesource its ACH and has set up a joint venture to carry out ACH transactions inthe United States. The joint venture, called ACH Cash, will be 50% owned byEarthport and 50% by the joint venture partner and will be registered in Nevada. The joint venture, which must abide by the provisions of the The ElectronicPayments Association ("NACHA") Operating Rules and Guidelines, will participatein the ACH both as an Originating and as a Receiving Depository FinancialInstitution. In 2002, the number of ACH payments increased to 8.05 billion, growth of 13.6%over the previous year, representing payments valued at US$21.7 trillion MyECheck Earthport has signed an agreement with MyECheck Inc. the world's first Check 21based Internet payment system. Check 21 is a federal law that is designed toenable banks to handle more cheques electronically, which should make chequeprocessing faster and more efficient. Through its UPN and international banking network, Earthport will provideMyECheck with a truly international capability for its MyECheck system. MyECheckwill provide access to wider markets and enhanced electronic processing. Mike Harrison, Chief Executive of Earthport commented: "These agreementsdemonstrate the widening appeal of Earthport's infrastructure offering to thoseinvolved in the global remittance market. They reflect the success of ourrevised strategy of targeting specific market segments where customers canbenefit from our international spread and the security of our UPN." For further information: Mike Harrison Chairman - Earthport plc +44 20 7220 9700Lulu Bridges/Paul Dulieu - Tavistock Communications +44 20 7920 3150 Notes to Editors: Note 1: ACH - Automated Clearing House is a secure payment transfer system, which actsas the central clearing facility for all Electronic Fund Transfer ("EFT")transactions in the US. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange