LIBERTY LAKE, Wash. — April 12, 2016 — Itron, Inc. (NASDAQ: ITRI), a world-leading technology and services company dedicated to the resourceful use of energy and water, announced today that Itron Total Outcomes for smart payment received Standard Transfer Specification (STS) certification, the only globally accepted open standard for prepayment systems. Itron Total Outcomes for smart payment is Itron’s global cloud-based offering, which provides prepayment vending and customer management software-as-a-service and managed services. The offering streamlines the deployment of Itron’s smart payment solutions, from keypad meters to smart payment meters, for electric and gas utilities. Itron Total Outcomes for smart payment is the first multi-commodity prepayment offering to be certified by the STS Association. The certification was achieved in collaboration with iPay (Pty) Ltd, Itron’s partner for smart payment processing.

The STS certification validates the interoperability of the smart payment offering. The certification ensures that system components from different manufacturers of prepayment systems can work together. It also confirms that the appropriate encryption key management practices are applied to protect the security of the prepayment transactions of utilities operating STS systems.

Smart payment enables end-users to pay in advance for the electricity, gas and water they consume, improving a utility’s cash flow and creating more awareness of usage among consumers. With Itron Total Outcomes for smart payment, Itron’s experienced team manages all aspects of a utility’s smart payment and vending operations, offloading the burden of day-to-day management tasks and increasing the utility’s time-to-value. The offering provides the flexibility for utilities to move from a smart payment system to a smart metering post payment system as their needs change in the future.

“With Itron Total Outcomes for smart payment, we are making it easier and faster for utilities and their customers to access the benefits of prepayment technology. Utilities can rapidly deploy our technology, delivering greater time-to-value. And with STS certification, they can rest assured that our technology is interoperable and uses open standards,” said Bruce Douglas, senior vice president and general manager of software and services at Itron. “At Itron, we strive to make it easier for utilities to responsibly manage energy and water resources and improve service to their customers. Itron Total Outcomes for smart payment is just one way in which we are helping create a resourceful world.”

“iPay has a long history of collaboration with Itron for smart payment processing. We played an important role in helping Itron’s smart payment offering secure STS certification by developing software that is used by the solution and managing the certification process,” said Henty Waker, Managing Director at iPay (Pty) Ltd. “We are proud to be a part of this milestone and look forward to our ongoing collaboration.”