London, UK – 20th September, 2011 – Today at SIBOS 2011, Earthport (AIM: EPO), the global payments provider, announces the adoption of standards laid down by the International Payments Framework Association (IPFA). This agreement sees Earthport join a group of major payments industry players, including some of the world’s largest banks, to improve non-urgent cross border payments on a global level.

The IPFA, a global not-for-profit association, was established in February 2010, to create standards based around ISO20022 to meet the growing demand for a more cost-effective, less complex, and more certain payment service with a wider reach. In addition to adopting the IPFA standards, Earthport will work to promote the benefits of IPFA participation and membership.

Earthport believes that the adoption of the IPFA standards is necessary as demand from both corporates and consumers puts pressure on cross-border payment providers. Recent research carried out by Glenbrook Partners, a consultancy specialising in payments, identified an unmet need for ‘a mid-market payment solution that is easy-to-use, highly reliable, and able to route payments globally at a reasonable cost.’

Hank Uberoi, Executive Director, Earthport comments: “With regulators calling for greater efficiency in the cross-border money transfer market, we are extremely pleased to be working with IPFA and its members to meet evolving market demand. Over recent years, mass migration of labour coupled with wide adoption of the internet has led to a massive increase in demand for cross-border e-commerce and other low value payments transactions, such as expense and pension disbursements.”

Arthur Cousins, CEO, International Payments Framework Association said: “As globalisation drives broader demand for cross-border payments, the IPFA is committed to ensure that non-urgent multi-currency cross-border payments are as seamless and simple as domestic processing. Earthport shares this same vision and we welcome their involvement and contribution moving forward.”

Earthport’s cross-border payments service will be an attractive proposition for  banks and other organisations who have already adopted or are considering adopting IPFA standards.