Visa's acquisition of the cross-border payments platform is notable given the acquisition comes at 4x the company's previous stock price. The move may indicate increased appetite for M&A and consolidation in the remittance space.
Earthport streamlines cross-border money transactions using a single API (application program interface) to clear and settle funds locally with its banking partners. Earthport’s clients include Ripple, Bank of America, Hyperwallet, Transferwise, Payoneer, and Japan Post Bank. In January 2016, Earthport launched the world’s first distributed ledger hub (DLH). Using DLH, Earthport clients can use the group’s distributed ledger technology through a simple and inexpensive single API — a first for the financial industry.
https://www.ccn.com/visa-acquires-ripple-partner-earthport-for-250-million/