OSLO, NORWAY– 25 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe has entered into a partnership with XH Smart, a global smart card manufacturer, focused on commercializing end to end biometric payment offerings to XH Smart customers in China and beyond.

XH Smart is a global solutions provider offering end-to-end digital security solutions to banks and telecom operators in more than 70 countries across the world.  A fully accredited Visa, Mastercard and China UnionPay card manufacturer, the company has grown rapidly since its founding in 2011, becoming a global player in the payment card marketplace, marked by several large industry acquisitions both inside and outside of China. In 2018 the company manufactured in excess of 44 million payment cards.

Speaking on the agreement with Zwipe, Mr Eehou Lim, XH Smart Group SVP, said “We are convinced that biometric payment cards is becoming one of the new standards in payments going forward and that is why we have partnered with Zwipe, the only company that can assist us in offering an end to end solution to our customers.  We are confident that we have the right pieces in place to seize this exciting opportunity.”

Zwipe’s end to end offering buoyed by its strong intellectual property portfolio provides card manufacturers physical components and manufacturing support. Additionally, the comprehensive package covers advisory services that will enable card manufacturers to provide a more complete offering to banks and issuers, by directly supporting product integration, customer enrolment and onboarding on multiple platforms.

Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “We are excited to partner with XH Smart and to contribute to their capacity to deliver not just an innovative new product but a complete experience to their discerning customers, driven by our shared commitment to making convenience secure.”

###

Munich, Germany, and Oslo, Norway – 18 June 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and the world’s leading provider of semiconductor solutions in the payments market, Infineon Technologies AG, have extended their non-exclusive partnership through a long-term agreement. This settlement outlines both technical and commercial collaboration between the two companies. The two parties will co-define and develop advanced system-on-chip solutions and related system designs for mass deployment of biometric smart devices, including payment cards and wearables.

Tap and go payments with biometric cards are gaining considerable market traction as they significantly improve the user experience without compromising on security, supporting the strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements demanded by the second Payment Service Directive (PSD2) in Europe.

Zwipe and Infineon have a long-standing relationship. Infineon’s Secure Element is currently deployed in all pilot projects featuring Zwipe’s biometric payment platform, currently supporting multiple leading payment networks run by 12 major banks in various countries across Europe and the Middle East. Card manufacturers plan to certify fully biometric payment cards and make them commercially available this year.

Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “We are proud to strengthen our long-standing partnership with a global technology leader such as Infineon. This collaboration further enhances our ability to commercialize our technology and IP through competitive solutions for mass-volume deployment.”

Bjoern Scharfen, Head of Payment & Wearables at Infineon had the following to say: “Our collaboration and joint offering with Zwipe is a key accelerator of mass deployment in the biometric payment market.”

Working together, the two technology companies will seek to develop advanced integrated solutions optimized to the volume requirements of biometric dual-interface payment cards. The platforms being developed combine simplified card design with reduced bills of material.

###

*Secure Element (SE) is a microprocessor chip which can store sensitive data and run secure apps such as payment. It acts as a vault, protecting the information inside the SE (applications and data) against malware attacks that can be typical launched against the host (i.e. device operating system).

OSLO, NORWAY– 3 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Goldpac, China’s largest secure payment solution provider are partnering to launch biometric payment cards, enrolment offerings and related services to Goldpac’s extensive customer network, including some of the largest financial organizations in the world.

Goldpac is fully certified by VISA, MasterCard, China Union Pay, American Express, JCB and Diners. As one of the top payment card producers in the world and the largest in the Asia Pacific region, Goldpac supplies payment smartcard chips, instant issuance card kiosks and card personalization /issuance solutions.

Speaking on this partnership, Oliver Hui, Senior Vice President of Goldpac Group, said “At Goldpac, we focus on supplying our customers with state-of-the-art fintech solutions that help them succeed in today’s dynamic payment ecosystem, and doing so innovatively and securely.  Biometric cards enable our card issuance customers to in turn provide their end users with cards that are secure and convenient to use, such as for payments or for identification, and we are excited to work with Zwipe to qualify and then introduce their biometric technology to our customer base, in the process providing a winning solution to our customers.”

The complete collaboration will include licensing of Zwipe intellectual property, technical integration of Zwipe components and hardware, adoption of Zwipe’s suite of enrolment solutions and advisory services, targeting biometric payment card pilots with various issuers before the end of 2019.

Commenting on this milestone agreement, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “ Goldpac is one of the largest, and fastest growing innovators in the global payment card market and we are excited to support their efforts in commercializing biometric payment solutions globally.”

###

OSLO, NORWAY – 3 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe today announced that Lisbeth Breum has notified the company that she is resigning from her position as chief financial officer effective 31 August 2019 to assume a CFO role in a company unrelated to biometrics, smart cards or payments.

“On behalf of the Zwipe team, I want to thank Lisbeth for her contributions during formative years for Zwipe. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors,” said André Løvestam, Zwipe CEO.  The company is in the process of finding a new CFO and will announce this when concluded. “We have added new capacities to both our technology and operations teams during the last year. The new CFO will join a team built to drive the next part of our journey towards international commercialization of Zwipe’s leading solutions”, Løvestam added.

###

OSLO, NORWAY- 14 May 2019 - The Annual General Meeting in Zwipe was held today. Enclosed are the Minutes of Meeting from the Annual General Meeting.

###

BEIRUT, LEBANON – 09 MAY 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Inkript, a digital security provider and a subsidiary of Resource Group, have partnered to launch biometric payment cards.

Inkript’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are certified by Visa and Mastercard for EMV cards production. The company caters for customers across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and has shipped over 70 million smartcards in 2018, making it one of the largest card manufacturers in the region.

Speaking of this partnership, Hisham Itani, Chairman and CEO of Resource Group said “we are pleased to launch our partnership with Zwipe to cater to the growing demand of secure banking cards in the region. Biometric payment cards add a valuable layer for secure payments and banks are keen to have this innovative product. He added “Our partnership with Zwipe, a proven technology leader in this emerging market, is introducing a cutting-edge biometric solution to financial institutions in the region and we are happy to be among the first movers.”

Zwipe and Inkript will collaborate technically and commercially to bring biometric payment cards to market. Several banks have expressed interest to pilot the offering, with the first pilots expected to launch before the end of 2019.

Commenting on this important partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “we are excited to partner with Inkript to introduce and deploy our technology with their customers. Based on the positive feedback from the successful pilots in the region, we are confident that the market is primed for growth.”

###

OSLO, NORWAY- 23 April 2019 - The board of directors of Zwipe AS (the “Company”) calls for the annual

general meeting to be held at the premises of Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS at Filipstad Brygge 1, 0252 Oslo, Norway on 14 May 2019 at 13:00 CET.

Please find enclosed the notice of the annual general meeting. The notice and the Company’s annual report for 2018 is available on the Company’s website www.zwipe.com.

Notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 13 May 2019 at 16:00 CET. Shareholders are encouraged to register this electronically through the company’s website www.zwipe.com. Alternatively, the attached form may be sent by e-mail to genf@dnb.no, or regular post to DNB Bank ASA, Verdipapirservice, NO-0021 Oslo.

###

Q1 2019 highlights and recent developments

• Continued focus on securing a leading position within biometric payment cards through partnerships with stakeholders covering the biometric payment card value chain, including card manufacturers, global payment schemes, issuers and financial institutions
• Participation in the majority of ongoing biometric payment card pilots in collaboration with partners in Europe and the Middle East
• New partnerships secured in Europe and Latin America, expanding technology reach and commercialisation potential within biometric payment card market
• NOK 120 million capital raise and subsequent admission to trading on Oslo Stock Exchange’s Merkur Market completed in January 2019
• Organizational development with new CTO and opening of a European Tech Hub based out of Munich, Germany

Status and outlook

• Zwipe is at the forefront of a global shift towards more secure and convenient contactless payments and the market is primed for growth. The company’s ambition is that Zwipe’s industry leading technology and partnerships will secure a strong market position.
• On 21 January 2019, Zwipe announced the successful completion of a NOK 120 million capital raise from an offering of new shares.  The offering was substantially over-subscribed, attracting strong interest from institutional and professional investors as well as retail investors in Sweden and Norway. The capital raise was conducted to strengthen the company’s financial position and fund the further development and commercialization of the company's technology. On 28 January 2019, Zwipe was admitted to trading on Oslo Stock Exchange’s Merkur Market under the ticker symbol ZWIPE-ME. These were important milestones for Zwipe, as the company seeks to capitalise on its first mover position in the biometric payment marketplace and as the payment industry moves towards bringing biometric payment cards to consumers.
• Payment card pilots remain an integral part of Zwipe’s go-to-market strategy and a vehicle to verify and showcase Zwipe’s competitive position. Zwipe’s technology was featured in 12 out of 17 biometric payment card pilots announced during 2018, with positive preliminary feedback from pilot stakeholders. There are currently 11 biometric payment card pilots featuring Zwipe’s technology: Intesa Sanpaolo pilot in Italy with Gemalto and Mastercard; and pilots with 10 banks across the Middle East with Areeba, Gemalto and Visa.
• As the market for biometric payment cards matures, new and existing players are scaling up their operations in anticipation of large-scale commercialization of biometric payment cards. Zwipe regards this trend as positive because it accelerates market development and opens a host of new opportunities for Zwipe. Furthermore, Zwipe believes that the availability of multiple credible suppliers is a prerequisite for the market to take off.
• Zwipe partnered with TAG Systems to target European-based challenger banks that are expected to be among the first movers in the market for biometric payment cards. Zwipe also partnered with Thomas Greg & Son do Brasil, one of Latin America’s largest card manufacturers, to co-develop and launch biometric payment cards in the Latin American markets.
• Late February, VP Program and Supply Chain Management, Eric Mercer, was appointed CEO of Zwipe America Inc and part of Zwipe’s management team.
• In April, Zwipe announced the appointment of Dr. Robert Mueller as its Chief Technology Officer. Dr. Mueller joins Zwipe with over 20 years’ experience in senior technical development positions focusing on biometrics and smart card technology at leading companies such as Siemens, Giesecke+Devrient and BMW. His most recent role was serving as Chief Technology Officer at Next Biometrics.
• Zwipe also established a European tech hub, which will complement the company’s existing research and development center in Colorado Springs, USA. Based out of Munich, the new hub will add further expertise to Zwipe on biometrics, algorithms, payment card integration, enrolment solutions and product management.
• A new solution for the JavaCard-based operating system was announced in April, further broadening the company’s scope in meeting various customer preferences and needs in the biometric payment card marketplace. With a broader product portfolio, Zwipe is uniquely positioned to be able to offer products that address both Multos and Java.  
• A pilot featuring Zwipe’s at-home enrolment for the first time is planned to start late Q2 2019. Ensuring simple, effective consumer enrolment and activation of biometric payment cards will be key to driving commercialization.
• Zwipe contributed to the Wearable Summit at World Mobile Congress in March, arranged by Zwipe partner Tappy Tech, highlighting that Zwipe also aims to develop a range of solutions for banks, including biometric wearables and digital services (card not present).
• Zwipe’s revenues in Q1 2019 were negligible. Average monthly operational cash burn throughout Q1 2019 was NOK 5.3m for a total in Q1 2019 of NOK 15.9m, primarily related to personnel expenses and IP protection. Total cash burn in the quarter, including extraordinary expenses related to fundraising activities and debt repayment, was NOK 46.4m. Total cash balance as at 31.03.2019 was NOK 82.8m.
• In April, Zwipe received NOK 10m out of a total NOK 23m grant awarded through EU’s Horizon 2020 program. Another NOK ~1.5m is expected to be paid out in 2019, with the residual expected to be paid out in 2020. Zwipe expects to receive a NOK 5m grant from the Norwegian government in Q4 2019 as a result of the approval of Zwipe’s grant application (“Skattefunn”) in Q4 2018.
• Monthly operational cash burn is expected to increase going forward as Zwipe continues to execute on its Generation NxT program, developing its organization and supply chain in preparation for biometric payment card commercialization. Zwipe expects to remain fully funded through 2019 and into 2020.

André Løvestam, Chief Executive Officer at Zwipe, said:

“Throughout the first quarter, we have continued to execute on our Generation NxT program, focusing on technological and supply chain advancements and cost reductions, making sure we have a competitive offering available as the industry is moving forward towards making biometric payment cards an offering to paying consumers. We have also made progress in ongoing pilots and continuously gained valuable feedback, enabling us to develop our products’ performance and functionality to even better meet the needs of the marketplace. We remain dedicated to ensuring continuous organizational improvements, which will be a vital differentiating factor as we move towards the large-scale, commercial adoption of biometric payment technology.

A strong and diverse partner ecosystem will also be increasingly important going forward. We see a trend that stakeholders across the value chain are branching out to multiple partners to reduce dependency on single partners or technologies, and we expect banks, payment networks and card manufacturers alike to secure at least dual-sourcing of their solutions for continuity of supply and general risk mitigation.

The feedback we have received and the experiences we have gained as supplier of inlays to the absolute majority of battery-less contactless biometric payment cards pilots to date, as well as the improvements we have achieved in both improving performance and reducing manufacturing cost for our Generation NxT-based inlay, which is our solution for the certification process and the anticipated subsequent roll-out of commercial biometric payment cards, make us confident that we remain well-placed to be a leading supplier of inlays in this phase.

Throughout the first quarter, we continued to strengthen our market position by building new important strategic partnerships, supporting our long-term ambition of catering to the unique needs of different regions.

The scale and scope of the opportunity we face is continually confirmed with increasing interest from stakeholders globally and we remain confident in Zwipe’s strong position in the biometric payment card value chain as we continue on our mission of making convenience secure.”

###

OSLO, NORWAY – 16 APRIL 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe announces a proprietary JavaCard operating system (OS) solution compatible with multiple global payment network applets. The solution is integrated with Zwipe’s biometric engine and is relevant for biometric payment cards, wearables and other ultra-low power payment and biometric applications.

In the biometric payment card marketplace, the primary operating systems in use are Multos and Java. Speaking on the JavaCard OS solutions development, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “With this announcement, Zwipe is uniquely positioned to be able to offer products that address both Multos and Java, further broadening the company’s scope in meeting various customer preferences and needs in the biometric payment card marketplace” adding “several of our already announced partners will use our JavaCard enabled biometric payment solution and we have received interest from multiple other card manufacturers to integrate it into their payment card offerings”.

Zwipe’s biometric payment platform features the company’s biometric engine and power management systems located on a flexible inlay which is integrated inside a traditional payment card by card manufacturing partners. This platform is seamlessly integrated with JavaCard OS and multiple payment applets found on the card’s secure element. 

###