International payments company OFX was hit by a fall in cross-border payments, particularly during the June quarter as COVID took hold around the world.

OFX released its results for the six months to September yesterday, reporting a 6 per cent fall in revenue compared with the previous corresponding period and a 66 per cent fall in net profit to A$2.9 million.

Transaction volumes grew year-on-year but the average transaction value fell from $23,200 in the September half last year to $18,6000 in the latest half.

Much of this fall was due to a fall in offshore share purchases. OFX provides international payments services to the share registry operator Link Market Services.

The number of active clients fell 4.4 per cent year-on-year to 147,200 – the lowest level for more than two years. Offsetting this fall, the number of transactions per active client increased 13.8 per cent to 7.9 transactions.

Bad and doubtful debts, which were a problem in the March half, dropped sharply in the latest half. The company said it has put enhanced fraud detection, ID verification and bank verification systems in place.