Earthport Builds on Cross-Border Payments Network with First Route into North Africa

Earthport, the cross-border payments service provider, today announced the roll out of a fully automated payment service into Morocco. The route is the first low value payment service for Earthport in North Africa and will enable the company to expand its network infrastructure into the region. Clients will be able to benefit from more competitive and transparent payments services, while leveraging Earthport’s local clearing capabilities to offer more cost efficient, low-value payments.

With more than three million people in the diaspora, Morocco is one of the top remittance destinations on the African continent and the second largest remittance country in North Africa with an estimated $6.4 billion worth of payments received in 2010.

The expansion into Morocco comes in response to the growing demand for low-cost payments into the region. The route will enable Earthport’s clients to quickly launch new payments services into the country and deliver faster, more cost efficient and more transparent remittance transfers.

“The payment route into Morocco demonstrates our strong commitment to enhancing our business proposition and delivering superior payment services and global reach to our clients,” said Paul Thomas, executive director at Earthport.

“Morocco is a key remittance market in North Africa and an important addition to our global network of countries with local clearing capabilities. Earthport’s specialist role in cross-border payments, means our clients reap the benefits of our country-specific regulatory understanding, local payment data framework and system connectivity standards, enabling them to launch new payment services quickly and cost effectively.”