Earthport issued with New York State money transmitter licence

Cross border payment services utility provider Earthport announced on Thursday that its wholly-owned subsidiary Earthport North America has received written confirmation of the issue of its New York State money transmitter licence, backdated to be effective from 15 February.

The AIM-traded firm said the “landmark event” authorised it in the US to engage directly with New York State resident individuals and corporations, whether licensed or unlicensed.

It said the licence covered wire transfers, foreign currency dealing and exchanging, bill paying and other methods of money transmission.

Earthport could send and receive money on behalf of its clients, from New York state to any location globally, giving New York-based businesses access to Earthport's global ACH network.

In addition to that, and subject to some state-specific restrictions, the licence authorised Earthport to engage in the provision of foreign exchange services, which the board said created “significant” commercial opportunity to attract and service New York resident businesses.

“Multi-state licensing is a requirement to fully service the US market, and the New York state licence is a key step in fulfilling our strategic ambitions in the US,” said Earthport’s US general counsel Marta Ramirez.

“We are pleased to have been awarded this licence and are working with a number of other states to progress additional applications.”

Phil Hickman, Earthport’s interim CEO, said the award of the company’s New York state money transmitter licence marked a “significant achievement” for Earthport.

“With it we are able to meaningfully expand our offering into the United States, and develop new commercial opportunities,” said Hickman.

“We will continue working towards acquiring additional state licences further enabling us to expand our presence in the United States.”