Battle-scarred electronic payments company Earthport has joined the finance industry's SWIFT network.

AIM-quoted Earthport, which recently appointed ex-Mayfair Group private equity specialist David Fife at 36 to be chief executive officer, says joining the SWIFT co-operative, supplier of secure, standardised messaging services and interface software to 8,000 institutions in 206 countries, will bring a range of benefits. These include direct access to interbank transfers, the ability to receive 'intra-day and per movement reporting', improved account opening processes, increased efficiency in sending payment instructions and improved communication with banks.

Chairman Mike Harrison enthuses 'joining SWIFT is a landmark step. Membership will radically improve the company's ability to provide cost-effective, fast and secure payment services'. Earthport's shares have perked up 5.5p to 25p, valuing the company at £8 million.

That is still a fraction of the 125p at which the company's shares were floated on AIM in 2000 and a faint shadow of the near-£7 levels reached previously on the OFEX (now PLUS) market in the dotcom and electronics boom. In the six months to last December, Earthport turned a £2.8 million loss into a £468,000 pre-tax profit, but the fightback still has a long road to recover.