The Company is pleased to announce that Hassan Chatila has been appointed Vice President of Earthport Middle East Limited.

Hassan's role will include day-to-day management of the region and all local sales activities. Hassan was previously the Regional Director of Western Union in the UAE where he had overall responsibility for UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Sudan. He has been a member of Western Union's senior management team in the UAE since April 2003 and prior to that, was the Regional Sales & Marketing Manager (Middle East) for a major technology company in Dubai for seven years.

Since Hassan's arrival, Earthport Middle East has signed contracts with:

• Al Ghurair Exchange Earthport will be providing a Cash-to-Bank service from the UAE to the Euro Zone and UK with Al Ghurair Exchange and is pleased to report that Al Ghurair is currently completing integration and will be fully live within the next two weeks.
• Al Ansari Exchange An agreement has been concluded with Al Ansari Exchange to provide a Cash-to-Bank service that will start with the UAE to South Africa corridor; with plans to expand into the Euro Zone, UK and other international destinations in the very near future. 
• LuLu International Exchange An agreement with LuLu International Exchange will provide a Cash-to-Bank service from the UAE to the USA, South Africa, Canada, Japan, Australia, Malaysia and Singapore. Integration on this project will commence shortly.

It is expected that all of these agreements and others currently under negotiation will be contributing revenue by the end of September and could provide significant volume and revenue generation for the coming fiscal year.

These clients provide a solid base upon which Earthport Middle East is building, which clearly demonstrates execution and expansion of its pipeline in the region.

Earthport USA

Earthport USA continues to expand its presence in the US and has executed teaming agreements with two of the world's leading consultancies and Business Process Outsourcing companies to utilise Earthport's UPN both directly within their own organisations and to resell into their client base.

Asia - Redikard

The Philippines remittance company Redikard has now completed its integration to Earthport's systems. Redikard has committed to in excess of 30,000 transactions per month of recurring run rate revenue from 1st July 2009 and is now operational.

Other regions

As part of the Company's continuing expansion, Earthport has established a subsidiary in Japan and is currently establishing itself in Brazil. Both of these additional geographies will facilitate the enlargement of the banking network and client base.

James Bergman, Chief Executive Officer of Earthport plc, commented: "I am pleased with the Company's progress over recent months which clearly demonstrates execution. The Earthport proposition is now resident in over 50 countries and we are establishing the Company's products into many different business operations.

"I am also delighted to welcome Hassan Chatila to the Earthport team. Hassan has substantial managerial and commercial experience and we look forward to him playing a pivotal role in the continued development, growth and success of Earthport in the Middle East region."