Earthport, a UK-based cross-border payments firm that the world’s credit card giants Visa and MasterCard are battling for, has registered a company in Lithuania.
The Vilnius-registered company is headed by Rosemary Faulkner and has an authorized share capital of 125,000 euros, according to the Center of Registers.
MasterCard in early February offered 265 mln euros for a 100% stake in Earthport and Visa last week raised its offer to 281 mln euros.
The two giants say the acquisition of Earthport, which offers a cheaper alternative to the traditional payment system, would help them expand their cross-border payment networks.
Earthport, which is listed on the London Stock Exchange’s secondary market, last year managed to trim its losses to 8.4 mln pounds (9.57 mln euros) as revenue increased by 5.2% to 31.9 mln pounds.
