OSLO, NORWAY – 14 September 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Cardmatix Ltd., a leading supplier of card manufacturing equipment, are partnering to collaborate on the design, development and commercialization of equipment and modular solutions to support milling and embedding of fingerprint sensors for biometric payment card manufacturing at mass volumes.
Headquartered in Dongguan, China, Cardmatix is a leading player in the development of industrial manufacturing and testing equipment specifically for mass production of payment cards.
“We have cooperated closely with Zwipe through our sister company Silone Cardtech, and we are convinced the biometric payment card market is poised for mass-volume take-off. Our industrial solutions will make smart card manufacturers’ job of producing millions of biometric payment cards much more cost-efficient thanks to the unique insights shared by Zwipe’s technical team,” said Cardmatix CEO, Mr. John Wu.
Zwipe has a long-standing collaboration with Silone Cardtech. The Chinese market is expected to see strong payment card growth with many established stakeholders fast-tracking their capacity to support demand.
“This is an important step in preparing our supply chain and global capacity to meet future demand. Cardmatix is one of the world’s most well-established high-volume card manufacturing equipment providers and we are excited to broaden our ability to serve our customers with their strong support.” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About CardMatix Ltd.
Cardmatix was established in 2002 to focus on the manufacturing of equipment for the production and testing of contact, contactless, and dual-interface smart cards for the world market. With 20 years’ experience in design, manufacturing, and marketing on smart card production related machineries, Cardmatix has been one of the leading solution providers worldwide in the card industry with durable, high speed machines engineered for easy maintenance and years of reliable service.
For more information contact: John Wu, CEO +86 0769 86855889
OSLO, NORWAY - 08 September 2020- The board of directors of Zwipe AS call for an Extraordinary General Meeting to be held on 29 September 2020 at 10:00 CET.
Please find enclosed the notice of the Extraordinary General Meeting.
Notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 28 September 2020 at 16:00 CET. Shareholders are encouraged to register via the following link here.
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.
The board of directors (the "Board") has proposed the following agenda:
Proposed decisions from the Board and the Nomination Committee (extracts only, please see the attachments to the notice for the full proposals)
Matter no. 4: Approval of capital increase directed against the chair of the Board
The general meeting resolved to approve the board's use of the authorization to increase the share capital to strengthen the Company's equity to issue and allocate shares to the chair of the board of directors in the board meeting on 7 September 2020.
Matter no. 5: Proposal to issue a new authorization to the Board to strengthen the Company's equity
As the Board has used the registered authorization to strengthen the Company's equity to complete the Private Placement, the Board proposes that the general meeting resolves to issue a new authorization to the board to increase the Company's equity (including to facilitate for a potential repair issue).
The board of directors is hereby granted authorization to increase the company's share capital, on one or several occasions, with up to NOK 319,065.80 (3,190,658 new shares), equivalent to 10% of the share capital after the Private Placement has been completed.
The authorization may be used to issue shares to strengthen the company's equity to the extent the board of directors considers this to be in the company's best interest at the given time.
Matter no. 6: Proposal to amend the provision in the articles of association on notice period for the general meeting
The notice period to the general meeting (ordinary and extraordinary) is 7 days, from 21 days in the company’s articles of association prior to this meeting.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For more information, please contact:
Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO
+47 991 661 35
This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 15:20 CET on 08 September 2020.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THE PRESS RELEASE.
OSLO, NORWAY – 07 September 2020 – Reference is made to the stock exchange release from Zwipe AS (“Zwipe” or the “Company”) published earlier this evening regarding a contemplated private placement.
The Company is pleased to announce that it has raised approximately NOK 96 million in gross proceeds through a private placement (the "Private Placement") of 6,381,315 new shares (the "New Shares"), at a price of NOK 15 per share. The Private Placement took place through an accelerated book building process managed by retained Arctic Securities AS and Erik Penser Bank AB (publ) as joint bookrunners (together the "Managers") after close of markets on 7 September 2020. The Offer Shares were placed to international institutional investors and existing shareholders of the Company.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to fund further development and commercialization of the Company, general operating cost and strategic investments.
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said: "After completion of this private placement, Zwipe is funded through commercial launches in 2021 and beyond based on the current business plan and market assumptions. We now look forward to taking a leading role in the biometric payment space and embarking on a long journey of value creation for our customers, our shareholders and society at large.”
Jörgen Lantto, chairman of the board of directors of Zwipe (“the Board”) said: “We are humble and proud to receive overwhelming support from high quality international and Nordic institutional investors, considerably strengthening our shareholder base. In particular, the new funding will allow the company to further accelerate our commercial activities to cater for the strong demand from smart card manufacturers and card issuers for Zwipe Pay ONE, our new technology platform for biometric payment cards”.
The payment date for the Offer Shares will be on or about 10 September 2020, with delivery of the Offer Shares expected on or about 14 September 2020. The Offer Shares will be tradable following the registration of the share capital increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises expected to take place on or about 14 September 2020, and trading is expected to commence simultaneously at Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market on or about 14 September 2020.
The completion of the Private Placement was subject to approval by the Board pursuant to an authorisation to increase the share capital given by the annual general meeting held on 14 May 2020.
Following registration of the new share capital pertaining to the Private Placement, the Company will have 31,906,576 shares outstanding, each with a par value of NOK 0.10.
Primary insider Jörgen Lantto, chairman of the Company, was allocated 333,333 shares in the Private Placement. Mr. Lantto's shareholding after completion of the rights issue will be 866,666 shares. The allocation of shares to Jörgen Lantto is subject to shareholder approval at an extraordinary general meeting.
Primary insider Energetic AS, owned by André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, André Løvestam owns 500,000 shares in the Company through Energetic AS.
Primary insider Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Lars Kristian Solheim owns 90,000 shares in the Company.
Primary insider Bishwajit Choudhary, EVP of Strategy and Channels of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Bishwajit Choudhary owns 25,500 shares in the Company.
Primary insider Dr. Robert Mueller, CTO of Zwipe, was allocated 20,000 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Dr. Robert Mueller owns 48,572 shares in the Company.
Primary insider Eric Mercer, CEO of Zwipe America Inc., was allocated 5,500 shares in the Private Placement. Following this transaction, Eric Mercer owns 5 500 shares in the Company.
The Board will shortly call for an extraordinary general meeting, to be held on or about 29 September 2020 (“the EGM”), which will be requested, inter alia, to make a new authorisation to the Board to issue shares to strengthen the Company's equity. Provided that the EGM provides the authorisation, it is the Board's intention to use this to carry out a subsequent offering of up to NOK 15 million / 1,000,000 shares towards shareholders of the Company as of 7 September 2020 (as registered in the VPS and Euroclear Sweden AB) who (i) were not allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement, and (ii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful, or would (in jurisdictions other than Norway and Sweden) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action. Such shareholders will be granted non-transferable subscription rights to subscribe for, and, upon subscription, be allocated new shares. One subscription right will entitle the holder to subscribe for one share in the Subsequent Offering. Oversubscription and subscription without rights will be allowed. The subscription price in the Subsequent Offering will be the same as the subscription price in the Private Placement. The Subsequent Offering will, if approved, commence after a prospectus describing the Subsequent Offering has been approved by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway. The Board may at its discretion decide not to proceed with the Subsequent Offering.
The Board has considered the offering of new shares in Private Placement in light of the equal treatment obligations under the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Oslo Børs' Circular no. 2/2014, and is of the opinion that the contemplated transaction is in compliance with these requirements. The Board of Directors concluded that the waiver of the preferential rights inherent in a private placement was considered necessary in the interest of time and successful completion of the share issue. The Private Placement will allow the Company to raise capital faster, with a lower discount and with significantly lower transaction costs than what a rights issue would entail, and it will also allow for the Company to strengthen its shareholder base to the benefit of the shareholders and the Company. On this basis, and based on an assessment of the current equity markets, the Board has considered the Private Placement to be in the common interest of the Company and its shareholders. As a consequence of the Private Placement structure, the shareholders' preferential rights will be deviated from.
Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS is acting as legal advisor to Zwipe with respect to Norwegian law, White & Case Advokat AB and Kanter Advokatbyrå KB are acting as legal advisor with respect to Swedish law.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 ir@zwipe.com
This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8 528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 23:50 CET on 7 September 2020.
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This release is issued for information purposes only, and does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States, or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the offering of the securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of the securities in the United States. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States.
The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in the Company is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither the Company nor the Managers assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.
The distribution of this release may in certain jurisdictions be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
The Managers are acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Private Placement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement and/or any other matter referred to in this release.
Forward-looking statements: This release and any materials distributed in connection with this release may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
NOT FOR RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION, IN WHOLE OR IN PART DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, IN AUSTRALIA, CANADA, JAPAN OR THE UNITED STATES OR ANY OTHER JURISDICTION IN WHICH THE RELEASE, PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION WOULD BE UNLAWFUL. THIS ANNOUNCEMENT DOES NOT CONSTITUTE AN OFFER OF ANY OF THE SECURITIES DESCRIBED HEREIN. PLEASE SEE THE IMPORTANT NOTICE AT THE END OF THE PRESS RELEASE.
OSLO, NORWAY – 07 September 2020 – Zwipe AS (“Zwipe” or the “Company”) has retained Arctic Securities AS and Erik Penser Bank AB (publ) as joint bookrunners (the "Managers") to advise on and effect a private placement of up to 6,381,315 new shares (the “Offer Shares”) equal to 25% of the outstanding shares in the Company, directed towards Norwegian and international investors, in each case subject to and in compliance with applicable exemptions from relevant registration, filing and prospectus requirements, and subject to other applicable selling restrictions (the "Private Placement"). The Managers have prior to launch received indications of demand covering the transaction size.
Jörgen Lantto, chair of the Company’s Board of directors (“the Board”), has committed to subscribe for new shares in the Private Placement for a subscription amount of NOK 5 million, subject to approval by an extraordinary general meeting in the Company to be convened shortly after allocation of the Private Placement (the "EGM").
André Løvestam, CEO, Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO, Bishwajit Choudhary, EVP of Strategy and Channels, and Dr. Robert Mueller, CTO, have all committed to subscribe for 20 000 new shares each in the Private Placement. Eric Mercer, CEO of Zwipe America Inc, has committed to subscribe for 5 500 new shares in the Private Placement.
The net proceeds of the Private Placement will be used to fund further development and commercialization of the Company, general operating costs and strategic investments. After completion of this private placement, Zwipe is funded through commercial launches in 2021 and beyond based on the current business plan and market assumptions.
The subscription price and number of Offer Shares to be issued in the Private Placement will be determined by the Board following an accelerated book building process. The minimum application and allocation amount have been set to the NOK equivalent of EUR 100,000. The Company may however, at its sole discretion, allocate an amount below EUR 100,000 to the extent applicable exemptions from the prospectus requirement pursuant to the EU Prospectus Regulation (as implemented in Norway by the Norwegian Securities Trading Act and through similar legislation in other EEA states) are available.
The book building period for the Private Placement commences today at 17:30 CEST and closes 7 September 2020 at 21:00 CEST. The Managers and the Company may, however, at any time resolve to close or extend the book building period, or cancel the Private Placement, at their sole discretion and on short notice. If the book building period is shortened or extended, any other dates referred to herein may be amended accordingly. Allocation of the Offer Shares will be determined at the end of the book building period, and the final allocation will be made by the Board at its sole discretion, following advice from the Managers. Notice of allocation of Offer Shares is expected to be sent to the investors on or about 8 September 2020.
The payment date for the Offer Shares will be on or about 10 September 2020, with delivery of the Offer Shares expected on or about 14 September 2020. The Offer Shares will be tradable following the registration of the share capital increase in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises expected to take place on or about 14 September 2020, and trading is expected to commence simultaneously at Merkur Market and Nasdaq First North Growth Market on or about 14 September 2020.
The completion of the Private Placement is subject to approval by the Board of the Company pursuant to an authorization to increase the share capital given by the annual general meeting held on 14 May 2020.
The Board has considered the offering of new shares in Private Placement in light of the equal treatment obligations under the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market and Oslo Børs' Circular no. 2/2014, and is of the opinion that the contemplated transaction is in compliance with these requirements. The Board of Directors concluded that the waiver of the preferential rights inherent in a private placement was considered necessary in the interest of time and successful completion of the share issue. The Private Placement will allow the Company to raise capital faster, with a lower discount and with significantly lower transaction costs than what a rights issue would entail, and it will also allow for the Company to broaden its shareholder base to the benefit of the shareholders and the Company. On this basis, and based on an assessment of the current equity markets, the Board has considered the Private Placement to be in the common interest of the Company and its shareholders. As a consequence of the Private Placement structure, the shareholders' preferential rights will be deviated from.
The Private Placement is directed towards investors subject to applicable exemptions from relevant prospectus requirements (i) outside the United States in reliance on Regulation S under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended, (the “US Securities Act”) and (ii) in the United States to "accredited investors" as defined in the US Securities Act Rule 501(a), acquiring the Offer Shares for investment purposes for its own account, or pursuant to another exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act.
The Board will consider to carry out a subsequent offering of new shares in the Company (the “Subsequent Offering”) which, subject to applicable securities laws, will be directed towards existing shareholders in the Company as of 7 September 2020 (as registered in the VPS and Euroclear Sweden AB on 9 September 2020) who (i) were not allocated Offer Shares in the Private Placement, and (ii) are not resident in a jurisdiction where such offering would be unlawful, or would (in jurisdictions other than Norway and Sweden) require any prospectus, filing, registration or similar action. The subscription price in a potential Subsequent Offering will be equal to the subscription price in the Private Placement.
Existing shareholders that participate in the Private Placement will irrevocably undertake to vote for their shares in favor of the resolution(s) proposed at the EGM to issue shares to Jörgen Lantto and the potential Subsequent Offering.
Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS is acting as legal advisor to Zwipe with respect to Norwegian law, and White & Case Advokat AB and Kanter Advokatbyrå KB are acting as legal advisors with respect to Swedish law.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more visit www.zwipe.com
For more information contact André Løvestam, CEO +47 991 66 135 ir@zwipe.com
This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 17:40 CET on 7 September 2020.
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This release is issued for information purposes only, and does not constitute or form a part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States, or any other jurisdiction in which such distribution would be unlawful or would require registration or other measures. The securities mentioned herein have not been, and will not be, registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act"). The securities may not be offered or sold in the United States except pursuant to an exemption from the registration requirements of the US Securities Act. The Company does not intend to register any portion of the offering of the securities in the United States or to conduct a public offering of the securities in the United States. Copies of this announcement are not being made and may not be distributed or sent into Australia, Canada, Japan or the United States.
The issue, subscription or purchase of shares in the Company is subject to specific legal or regulatory restrictions in certain jurisdictions. Neither the Company nor the Managers assume any responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions.
The distribution of this release may in certain jurisdictions be restricted by law. Persons into whose possession this release comes should inform themselves about and observe any such restrictions. Any failure to comply with these restrictions may constitute a violation of the securities laws of any such jurisdiction.
The Managers are acting for the Company and no one else in connection with the Private Placement and will not be responsible to anyone other than the Company providing the protections afforded to their respective clients or for providing advice in relation to the Private Placement and/or any other matter referred to in this release.
Forward-looking statements: This release and any materials distributed in connection with this release may contain certain forward-looking statements. By their nature, forward-looking statements involve risk and uncertainty because they reflect the Company's current expectations and assumptions as to future events and circumstances that may not prove accurate. A number of material factors could cause actual results and developments to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.
OSLO, NORWAY – 27 August 2020, CET 09:40 – Zwipe AS today publishes its half-year report for H1 2020.
The update is with reference to the EU Market Abuse Regulations
Highlights for first half-year 2020 include:
Financials
Second Quarter
First Half Year
Significant events during the period
Significant actions after the period
CEO comment
The first half of 2020 has been very productive, and a period marked by progress and major achievements for Zwipe. At a time when the public is particularly attuned to the benefits of social distancing, the payment ecosystem has increasingly embraced the need for secure, contactless payment technologies. COVID-19 has been a game-changer for market acceptance of the need for truly touchless payment solutions such as those offered by Zwipe.
The year began with Zwipe successfully listing on Nasdaq’s First North Growth Market in Sweden, boosting liquidity and investor awareness through access to a broader investor community.
We continued building our end-to-end ecosystem, expanding our customer network globally, forging several new strategic technical partnerships, securing important orders and extending exclusive partnerships. All of this while continuing to make progress on our previously announced key projects, Zwipe Pay ONE with IDEMIA and IDEX, and the wearables project with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D).
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the focus on safety and significantly increased the growth of contactless transactions. This, in turn has led to raised contactless transaction limits all over the world and has served to highlight the improved hygiene and safety benefits of biometric payments. During 2020, the first announcements of upcoming small-scale commercial launches of biometric payment cards to consumers have been made, proving that the industry is ready to start serving a mass market.
We believe we hold the key to the next step of broad-scale, high-volume adoption of biometric payment cards through our cooperation with IDEMIA on Zwipe Pay ONE, which will reduce manufacturing cost for biometric payment cards to a level that enables card issuers to start mass-volume deployment.
Consequently, we are doubling down our efforts to serve the market, with immediate results. As previously announced, we have an ongoing dialogue with more than 40 out of the world’s top 50 smart card manufacturers. During H1 2020 we have seen very good progress in our sales pipeline. We have announced that five new smart card manufacturers have decided to adopt Zwipe Pay ONE once it is available for early sampling, planned for later in 2020, and our prospect list and pipeline are continuously increasing. These are the clearest indications of demand for our solutions.
During the period we also began to engage directly with issuers and banks. Early insights suggest that a sizable number of consumers are willing to pay a meaningful monthly fee for biometric payment cards. We have been able to initiate fruitful engagements with multiple banks on how to profitably deploy biometric payment cards to consumers in large scale. This has strongly resonated across the payments and cards ecosystem, creating a wave of interest in what we uniquely offer to the marketplace.
Zwipe builds its competitive position on combining cost and performance leadership with our value-adding trusted advisor/systems integrator role. This combination is the cornerstone in Zwipe’s ambitions towards mass market deployments of Biometric Payment Cards and wearables.
In the second half of 2019 we streamlined costs and lasered in on core processes to achieve mass-volume market readiness for Zwipe. Our progress in recent months is proof that we are on the right path. Our technology partnership with IDEMIA has secured Zwipe world-wide, exclusive ownership to a disruptive technology platform with superior energy efficiency and excellent biometric performance, positioning Zwipe for cost- and technology leadership.
Leveraging the deep systems know-how of our organization, we are also teaming up with other component suppliers and manufacturing partners to further simplify adoption and reduce the total cost of Zwipe Pay ONE. I am excited by the results of these efforts, which secure our ability to meet the aggressive cost targets we have set for Zwipe Pay ONE. We remain on track with regards to the development of Zwipe Pay ONE, having met all significant milestones during the period. We are confident that our cost leadership strategy is enabling us to bring a very compelling offering to our customers, while laying the foundation for a sound long-term business and value creation for Zwipe as the market matures.
Thanks to the experience gained from being fully dedicated to Biometric Payment Cards from the outset, we are a trusted advisor to smart card manufacturers and card issuers, advising them on what is needed to launch Biometric Payment Cards including user experience and customer onboarding.
This comprehensive approach makes Zwipe stand-out in the crowd. Zwipe’s uniqueness is in the combination of our know-how, network, patents and technology. We make the entire process of evaluating, building, integrating, and deploying a biometric payment solution simple. We provide the components and build the inlays necessary for the smart card manufacturers. We are building an ecosystem of partners to enable card manufacturers and issuers a frictionless route to launching Biometric Payment Cards. This cooperative approach is central to supporting the growth of the overall Biometric Payment Card market, but also key to cementing Zwipe’s position and role. By giving banks and issuers, alongside our smart card manufacturing partners, a one-stop shop for the most cost effective and compelling route to launching an innovative, rapidly deployable contactless payment solution, we are building a commercial path that creates sustainable long-term value for our customers.
Cardholders and consumers around the world are demanding greater safety and security when paying for goods, and they want convenience too, which is the background for our mission of “making convenience safe and secure”. I am confident that we are on track to deliver on our mission and fulfil our pivotal role in supporting our many communities tackle the risks posed by COVID-19 at the point of sale.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 09:40 CET on 27 August 2020.
OSLO, NORWAY – 27 August 2020, CET 08:00 – Zwipe AS today publishes its half-year report for H1 2020.
Highlights for first half-year 2020 include:
Financials
Second Quarter
First Half Year
Significant events during the period
Significant actions after the period
CEO comment
The first half of 2020 has been very productive, and a period marked by progress and major achievements for Zwipe. At a time when the public is particularly attuned to the benefits of social distancing, the payment ecosystem has increasingly embraced the need for secure, contactless payment technologies. COVID-19 has been a game-changer for market acceptance of the need for truly touchless payment solutions such as those offered by Zwipe.
The year began with Zwipe successfully listing on Nasdaq’s First North Growth Market in Sweden, boosting liquidity and investor awareness through access to a broader investor community.
We continued building our end-to-end ecosystem, expanding our customer network globally, forging several new strategic technical partnerships, securing important orders and extending exclusive partnerships. All of this while continuing to make progress on our previously announced key projects, Zwipe Pay ONE with IDEMIA and IDEX, and the wearables project with Giesecke+Devrient (G+D).
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has elevated the focus on safety and significantly increased the growth of contactless transactions. This, in turn has led to raised contactless transaction limits all over the world and has served to highlight the improved hygiene and safety benefits of biometric payments. During 2020, the first announcements of upcoming small-scale commercial launches of biometric payment cards to consumers have been made, proving that the industry is ready to start serving a mass market.
We believe we hold the key to the next step of broad-scale, high-volume adoption of biometric payment cards through our cooperation with IDEMIA on Zwipe Pay ONE, which will reduce manufacturing cost for biometric payment cards to a level that enables card issuers to start mass-volume deployment.
Consequently, we are doubling down our efforts to serve the market, with immediate results. As previously announced, we have an ongoing dialogue with more than 40 out of the world’s top 50 smart card manufacturers. During H1 2020 we have seen very good progress in our sales pipeline. We have announced that five new smart card manufacturers have decided to adopt Zwipe Pay ONE once it is available for early sampling, planned for later in 2020, and our prospect list and pipeline are continuously increasing. These are the clearest indications of demand for our solutions.
During the period we also began to engage directly with issuers and banks. Early insights suggest that a sizable number of consumers are willing to pay a meaningful monthly fee for biometric payment cards. We have been able to initiate fruitful engagements with multiple banks on how to profitably deploy biometric payment cards to consumers in large scale. This has strongly resonated across the payments and cards ecosystem, creating a wave of interest in what we uniquely offer to the marketplace.
Zwipe builds its competitive position on combining cost and performance leadership with our value-adding trusted advisor/systems integrator role. This combination is the cornerstone in Zwipe’s ambitions towards mass market deployments of Biometric Payment Cards and wearables.
In the second half of 2019 we streamlined costs and lasered in on core processes to achieve mass-volume market readiness for Zwipe. Our progress in recent months is proof that we are on the right path. Our technology partnership with IDEMIA has secured Zwipe world-wide, exclusive ownership to a disruptive technology platform with superior energy efficiency and excellent biometric performance, positioning Zwipe for cost- and technology leadership.
Leveraging the deep systems know-how of our organization, we are also teaming up with other component suppliers and manufacturing partners to further simplify adoption and reduce the total cost of Zwipe Pay ONE. I am excited by the results of these efforts, which secure our ability to meet the aggressive cost targets we have set for Zwipe Pay ONE. We remain on track with regards to the development of Zwipe Pay ONE, having met all significant milestones during the period. We are confident that our cost leadership strategy is enabling us to bring a very compelling offering to our customers, while laying the foundation for a sound long-term business and value creation for Zwipe as the market matures.
Thanks to the experience gained from being fully dedicated to Biometric Payment Cards from the outset, we are a trusted advisor to smart card manufacturers and card issuers, advising them on what is needed to launch Biometric Payment Cards including user experience and customer onboarding.
This comprehensive approach makes Zwipe stand-out in the crowd. Zwipe’s uniqueness is in the combination of our know-how, network, patents and technology. We make the entire process of evaluating, building, integrating, and deploying a biometric payment solution simple. We provide the components and build the inlays necessary for the smart card manufacturers. We are building an ecosystem of partners to enable card manufacturers and issuers a frictionless route to launching Biometric Payment Cards. This cooperative approach is central to supporting the growth of the overall Biometric Payment Card market, but also key to cementing Zwipe’s position and role. By giving banks and issuers, alongside our smart card manufacturing partners, a one-stop shop for the most cost effective and compelling route to launching an innovative, rapidly deployable contactless payment solution, we are building a commercial path that creates sustainable long-term value for our customers.
Cardholders and consumers around the world are demanding greater safety and security when paying for goods, and they want convenience too, which is the background for our mission of “making convenience safe and secure”. I am confident that we are on track to deliver on our mission and fulfil our pivotal role in supporting our many communities tackle the risks posed by COVID-19 at the point of sale.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Oslo Børs Merkur Market and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 08:00 CET on 27 August 2020.
OSLO, NORWAY– August 20th, 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Wisecard Technology, a leading supplier of EMV personalization and payment solutions, have partnered to support the industrialization of biometric payments solutions.
Headquartered in Shenzhen, China, Wisecard Technology Ltd. specializes in personalization software development, primarily focusing on the smart card payment industry. As a leading provider of EMV personalization services, the company will support the co-development of personalization offerings for the Zwipe Pay family of products and solutions.
“We are excited to work closely with Zwipe to tap into the huge potential we see for biometrics in the payments market. Zwipe has led the way in establishing a global network of partners to make the launch of biometric payment cards and wearables at scale as effortless and cost-effective as possible. We are keen to support this mission and bring safer and more secure payment options to consumers around the world,” says, Kevin Yi, Vice President at Wisecard.
Smart card manufacturers will benefit from the collaboration by having access to a validated and proven personalization process for their biometric payment cards powered by Zwipe technology.
Speaking on the partnership André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, says “We are excited to partner with Wisecard as we continue to expand our ecosystem and our capacity to provide the most comprehensive and compelling offerings within biometric payments to smart card manufacturers and issuers, further cementing the value-add we bring to our customers.”
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About Wisecard Technology
Wisecard Technology Co , Ltd. is a solution provider for smart card issuance and innovative payment platforms with more cost effective and user friendly features. Wisecard has invested heavily on technological innovation and product development. This has resulted in the creation of leading solutions in the area of Card Management and Personalization, payment systems, which have been compliant with the regulations from international payment schemes. Wisecard has always had a strong customer service focus and built leading edge professional services organization, delivering high class product and process support around the world. After a decade of providing cost-effective, innovative and vendor independent solutions that enable customers to improve their operational processes, Wisecard has successfully deployed solutions in more than 60 countries throughout Europe, Africa, Middle East, Southeast Asia and South America.
To learn more, please visit www.wisecardtech.com
For more information contact: Kevin Yi, Vice President, + 86 755 86007346 sales@wisecardtech.com
OSLO, NORWAY– 18 August 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Smart Technology Services (STS), one of the world’s first equipment manufacturers to develop a biometric payment card milling and embedding enabled system, have expanded their previously announced partnership to support the industrialization of dual interface biometric payment cards using Zwipe Pay ONE platform.
Headquartered in France, STS is a leading player in the development of industrial manufacturing equipment specifically for the production and personalization of smart cards. The two companies have jointly developed integrated solutions that will enable Smart Card Manufacturers (SCMs) to achieve a risk-free and agile industrialization of biometric payment cards.
“Zwipe has been one of the leaders in the development of biometric payment platforms while we have developed manufacturing processes to enable SCMs to successfully reach a true volume offer capability for such cards. We have worked very closely together over the last year to fine-tune our complementary offering in order to support smart card manufacturers as they adopt and begin to roll out cards based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform,” said Thierry Buisson, CEO of STS, speaking on the ramping up of activities.
“Our expanded partnership with STS has mitigated project risks and reduced the capital expenditure needed to enable the production of biometric payment cards. This will further strengthen our respective positions in the market and accelerate the adoption of biometric payment cards,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Smart Technology Services
Founded in 2013 in France, Smart Technology Services provides high level support services and card personalization solutions to card manufacturers and bureaus worldwide. The company provides services support activities for card central issuance systems and secondhand systems It also supplies the Smart Evol 1000 – a fully modular mid-range card personalization system, and the SI20 and SI700 – versatile card production systems for contact, dual interface, and biometric cards.
Please visit http://stservices.fr for further information
OSLO, NORWAY– 28 JULY 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Liveo Research, a major supplier of PVC materials to some of the world’s largest card manufacturers, have partnered to offer a highly optimized route to efficient and scalable manufacturing of biometric payment cards. This is key in supporting the ongoing industrialization of the Zwipe Pay family of products.
Liveo Research is a global manufacturer of rigid packaging solutions focusing on pharma packaging innovations, specialty films and card solutions. With around 1,100 employees across five locations worldwide, Liveo is generating annual sales of more than 350 million euros.
“We are excited to collaborate with Zwipe, a pioneer in the field of biometric payment cards, to promote and roll out the Zwipe Pay ONE platform that will radically reduce the cost and complexity associated with card production process”, says Managing Director at Liveo Research, Mr. Pietro Parmeggiani.
Speaking on the partnership André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe says, “This showcases how Zwipe is leveraging the payment ecosystem’s key players to enable best-in-class solutions and grow the biometric payment card segment. Liveo Research is a strong stakeholder and working together we will be able to further strengthen the value proposition to smart card manufacturers.”
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About Liveo Research
Since 1953 Liveo Research’s Castiglione facility has been at the forefront of technological innovation in vinyl calendaring. Decades of commitment to manufacturing quality and enhanced rigid films properties has given Liveo’s card manufacturers the extra edge to easily move into new niche market with even newer technological requirement. Today, Liveo’s SICO films are sought after for high quality secure payment cards, e-government, IoT SIM/GSM, M2M, access controls cards, where they withstand daily handling while maintaining a pristine appearance and data integrity. Liveo Research SICO films are available globally with two primary manufacturing sites, Castiglione, Italy, where it all began and, Delaware City, DE, USA. To learn more, visit www.liveoresearch.com
For more information contact: cs.eu@liveo-research.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 23 July 2021 – As Zwipe continues to expand its relationship with smartcard manufacturers around the world, we are pleased to announce that a Global Tier 1 smartcard manufacturer has taken delivery of Zwipe Pay ONE components to evaluate inhouse manufacturing of biometric payment cards using Zwipe’s latest technology. Zwipe is a biometric fintech pioneering next generation contactless payment globally.
Zwipe Pay ONE is the world’s first single silicon based biometric payment platform offered to card manufacturers globally. It provides best in class biometric performance and energy efficiency at highly competitive prices. By enabling standard production processes and significantly lowering yield losses, it is designed to be mass market ready, delivering a significant improvement in both the consumer experience and the commercial benefits. Recent consumer studies demonstrate a very positive return on investment for this product enabling a strong business case for manufacturers and issuers to adopt it. Zwipe Pay ONE has delivered on its original design goals and offers significant opportunities across the payments value chain.
“As organisations around the world adapt to the increasing demands of their customers, we are seeing smartcard manufacturers gearing up to be able to supply this latest generation of biometric payment cards. This new initiative by one of the world's largest manufacturers signifies a key development for Zwipe as we move towards our new payment technology becoming a mainstream proposition for issuers and cardholders,” added André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing technology to biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free.
To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com For further information please contact:
André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY and LES PAILLES, MAURITIUS – 16 JULY 2021 – Biometric fintech company, Zwipe and ICPS, a leading international card payment processor and card personalization bureau, are partnering to bring Zwipe Pay ONE enabled biometric payment cards to banks across Africa and Asia.
The COVID-19 pandemic has boosted the use of contactless technology and ultimately the need for consumers and businesses to make higher-value payments using contactless cards. However, the contactless limit increase for payments also posed a higher risk for users without an additional layer of security.
ICPS and Zwipe have partnered to bring biometric payment cards enabled with fingerprint sensors. With a fingerprint sensor embedded in the card, consumers will now benefit from an extra layer of security with no need to enter a PIN code on the POS terminal.
Zwipe will provide the complete Zwipe Pay ONE package comprising Biometric ISO contact plate module, Passive inlay, Fingerprint sensor, OS license and enrollment sleeves. As part of this collaboration, both companies will work closely to promote the disruptive Zwipe Pay ONE enabled biometric payment cards for ICPS’ issuers in Africa and Asia.
“As a provider of innovative payment services in the African continent, we pride ourselves in delivering future proof innovations. Together with Zwipe we will bring a new payment solution that will help financial institutions to differentiate their services, provide safer and much more secure payment solutions and uplift customer loyalty. Zwipe is a well-regarded technology brand in the biometric payment space and we are very happy to join forces with them”, said Khevin Seebah, CEO at ICPS.
ICPS has a portfolio of more than 30 clients based in 22 countries in Africa and Southeast Asia. The company, which is based in Mauritius, provides payment processing and consultancy services for banks, financial institutions, and telecom operators. ICPS hosts more than six million cards, drives over 600 ATMs and 11,000 point of sale terminals, and processes over 10 million transactions on its platform each month.
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said: “We are delighted to collaborate with ICPS and bring the next generation of contactless payment cards to banks in Africa and Asia. ICPS’ strong position among financial institutions across Afica and Asia, and Zwipe’s disruptive technology and deep expertise within biometric payment cards, will create a strategic foundation for a mutually rewarding partnership.”
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About ICPS
Founded in 2008, ICPS a subsidiary of the HPS Group, the latter being a leading global cards and payments technology provider serving 450 issuers and acquirers in 90 countries across five continents. Based in Mauritius, the firm provides payment-processing services for banks, financial institutions and telecom operators. It currently has a rich portfolio of more than 30 clients in 22 countries in Africa and Asia, which includes some of the world’s leading banks. ICPS activity covers hosting of more than six million cards, driving of more than 600 ATMs and 11,000 point of sale terminals, and processes more than 10 million transactions each month.
To learn more, visit https://www.icps.mu/
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing technology to biometric payment cards and wearables that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For further information, please contact:
Mr. André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
ICPS Sales team businessdevtraining@icps.mu
Summer Greetings from André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe
OSLO, NORWAY - 9 JULY 2021
Dear stakeholders of Zwipe,
Through the first half of 2021, our global payment ecosystem of Smart Card Manufacturers, Payment Processors, Banks and Go-to-market Partners has continued to expand at a rapid pace, further strengthening our foundation for future market success. In these challenging times, our growing team of competent and passionate Zwipers, spanning 14 different nationalities in nine countries across three different continents and five time zones from Colorado Springs to Singapore, has demonstrated exceptional teamwork with a solid focus on customers. I am delighted to share that the interest in biometric payment cards based on Zwipe technology, which deliver a more convenient, secure and safe means to pay, has never been stronger. The voices of consumers captured by Zwipe in the UK, USA, Canada, Sweden, Norway and Romania since August last year are encouraging and consistent with similar findings from card schemes and other industry players.
Entering the Indian subcontinent and APAC region
In the first half of 2021, we announced six new Smart Card Manufacturers into our ecosystem:
Together, these manufacturers deliver around 200 million payment cards annually. In addition, we extended and expanded our partnership with TAG Systems, who delivers 100 million payment cards annually. Looking forward, it is great to see that our SCM and processor and issuer pipelines continue to grow.
The encouraging developments with card manufacturers received a big boost when Asia’s largest payment processor, Financial Software and Systems (FSS) embraced our next-generation payment cards platform based on Zwipe Pay ONE technology. FSS manages over 800 million cards, and we are now working with them to bring our ground-breaking innovation globally. We also strengthened our regional presence by appointing Masterline and Sonali Intellect Ltd. as our business development partners in India and Bangladesh, respectively.
Acceleration in the MENA Region and Europe
Middle East and North Africa (MENA)
On the back of growing demand for biometric payments cards in the MENA region, Network International (NI), providing payment services to over 200 banks in Middle East and Africa, and Middle East Payment Services (MEPS), a leading payment service provider in the Levant region, entered new partnerships with Zwipe. NI and MEPS have boosted our reach and delivery capabilities in the MENA Region, on top of our already strong network of prominent partners in the region, notably Masria Digital Payments, Inkript, areeba and Veritech. To effectively serve our growing partner network and issuers, we appointed Ramzi Saboury as the General Manager for the MENA region. Ramzi brings over 26 years of experience and network in payment services in MENA from leadership roles in Kuwaiti banks, VISA and areeba.
Europe and the UK
In the past few months, we have seen an increasing in-flow of interest from card manufacturers in multiple regions, most notably in Europe. The same can be said for issuer engagements that come through our Processor Partners and Card Manufacturers in Europe, especially in the UK and Nordics. This is proof that our “Megaphone” partner strategy works! Swedish fintech VOPY, providing embedded financial services to clients globally, and France-based payment service provider, be ys Pay, selected Zwipe Pay ONE (ZPO) cards for their ssuers, aiming to pilot Zwipe Pay ONE this year. Both these developments came within months of OP Bank’s decision to pilot with cards based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform togheter with our Go-to-market partner, TietoEVRY. OP is Finland’s largest financial services group and serves over four million customers.
Delivery of Zwipe Pay ONE on track
We had strong progress in the development of Zwipe Pay ONE, the world’s first Single Silicon based biometric payment platform offered to card manufacturers globally. In April 2021, we demonstrated our enrollment solution and touch-free payment transactions above the transaction cap at a Point-of-Sales terminal with test keys to emulate fully EMV authorized and authenticated transactions in a live environment. The feedback from the market was very positive as everyone could see how these cards quickly and reliably provide a considerable boost to user experience and security.
In fact, we have now passed most critical milestones and major risk points,with only piloting and certification left before commercialization in mass volumes.
Next steps – pilots and certification
Apart from pilots planned from late this quarter, certification will represent the last milestone before commercialization. We have already performed pre-tests at accredited test labs with excellent results.
We are now working closely with the card schemes to secure these processes, which will be explained in detail during our H1 2021 reporting on 26 August. In the coming weeks, we will start handing out Zwipe Pay ONE demo cards to issuers and partners and continue to help them prepare for commercial launches.
Zwipe 2.0
Last, but not least, H1 2021 has seen further strengthening of our team across all functions – commercial, technical, operational and regional. We have engaged every Zwiper in developing and honing our Winning Team Culture, with our Core Values driving us to be Innovative, Collaborative, Adaptable and Passionate. Each recruitment is intended not only to add capacity, but also to uplift our team. I am also pleased to see further strengthening of our board.
I take this opportunity to thank each member of the Zwipe team for their remarkable effort and passion to our mission of Making Convenience safe and secure. My thanks also go out to all our customers, partners, and shareholders for sharing this mission as strongly as every Zwiper.
I wish each one of you a very safe and happy summer ahead!
OSLO, NORWAY and AMMAN, JORDAN – 24 JUNE 2021 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Network International Services Limited Jordan PSC (NI) have decided to collaborate to address the growing demand for biometric payment solutions in the Levant region.
The Network International Group is the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA). It provides a robust suite of payment products and services that are on the cutting-edge of technology development. In 2020, Network processed over 750 million payment transactions for more than 200 financial institutions, 80,000 merchants and over 16 million cards.
Speaking on the collaboration, Amjad Al-Sadeq, Regional President – Levant at Network International Services Limited Jordan PSC, said: “COVID-19 has accelerated a mega-shift in our region towards more secure and hygienic payments. We are confident that our issuer clients and consumers will embrace biometric payment cards as they provide an excellent check-out experience with much higher security. Zwipe Pay ONE cards will enrich our payment portfolio and further reinforce our innovation leadership.”
Zwipe will provide Network International with technical support and services for the implementation of Zwipe Pay ONE biometric cards including deliveries to the issuers. The Zwipe Pay ONE-powered cards will be delivered by one of Zwipe’s certified smart card manufacturers in the region.
“The Levant is a key growth market for Zwipe in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region. Network International is the largest player in this vast region, and their strong relations with many prominent banks across the Middle East and Africa will be a significant complement to Zwipe’s technology leadership. We are honored to work with Network International to accelerate the deployment of biometric payment cards,” said Ramzi Saboury, General Manager for Zwipe in the MENA region.
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
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About Network International
Network International comprises of a group of companies and is the leading enabler of digital commerce across the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region, providing a full suite of technology-enabled payments solutions to merchants and financial institutions of all types and sizes, including acquiring and processing services and a comprehensive ever-evolving range of value-added services.
Network International Holdings Plc is the holding company for Network International and the group companies.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe and Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY and DHAKA, BANGLADESH – 18 JUNE 2021 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe has appointed Sonali Intellect Limited as its sales and strategic business development partner to accelerate the adoption of biometric payment cards in Bangladesh. With 166 million inhabitants and a fast growing base of 22 million payment cards (credit cards grew 50% between 2019-20), Bangladesh represents a strategic growth opportunity for both partners.
For almost a decade, Sonali Intellect Limited (SIL) has been leading the modernization of the largest banks of Bangladesh, notably Sonali Bank and Rupali Bank. SIL delivers cutting edge financial technology solutions to Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance sectors in Bangladesh. SIL’s portfolio comprises Card Management Systems, Core Banking (Conventional and Islamic), Trade Finance, Treasury, Cash and Liquidity Management, Supply Chain Finance, Contact Centre, Brokerage and Wealth Management. Today, the SIL platform serves 2 banks, 1806 branches and 25.4 million end users.
"We are excited to partner with Zwipe and bring their ground-breaking payment innovation in Bangladesh. Biometric Payment Cards, due to their state-of-art security and world-class user experience will play a key role in fighting fraud, driving digital inclusion, and ensuring a seamless checkout experience for consumers. We have already started engaging with many key banks in the market and their early feedback has been encouraging”, says S.M. Jahangir Akhter, CEO of SIL.
As part of the collaboration both companies will work closely to help banks, card personalization bureaus and processors in Bangladesh to support Zwipe Pay ONE cards with the ambition to deliver pilots later this year.
Commenting on the sales partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, says, "We are glad to partner with Sonali Intellect Limited. Their local market insights, deep relations with issuers and strong track record of innovation in financial services have already proven effective and align well with our expansion plans in high growth, high potential markets, such as Bangladesh. SIL has uncovered and demonstrated real market interest in Bangladesh, and we will collaborate closely to help the issuers pilot and roll out Zwipe powered biometric payment cards”.
For further information, please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
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About Sonali Intellect Limited
Sonali Intellect Limited, a financial technology solution provider, was incorporated as a joint venture company in 2012 by Intellect Design Arena Limited (erstwhile ‘Polaris FT Limited’) - a leading global financial technology group and Sonali Bank Ltd.- largest State Owned bank to deliver high quality IT solutions.
Sonali Intellect Limited provides cutting edge financial technology solutions to Banking, Financial Services and Insurance sectors in Bangladesh. Sonali Intellect Limited has adapted the best practices around software product development, delivery and implementation from Intellect Design Arena Limited. It is also backed by Intellect Design Arena Limited’s global experience and world-class management practices.
On the other hand, it has full-fledged development and support center in Bangladesh maintained by experienced local resources. These enable Sonali Intellect Limited to provide world-class solution and support services from its local development center to its customers in Bangladesh.
The company is leading the modernization of the largest bank of Bangladesh- Sonali Bank Limited and Rupali Bank Limited.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free.
To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY and DHAKA, BANGLADESH – 16 JUNE 2021 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe and Silkways Card & Printing Ltd (Silkcard), a leading provider of payment cards in Bangladesh, are partnering to bring biometric payment cards enabled by Zwipe Pay ONE technology to financial institutions and card issuers.
Silkcard is a fully functional EMV certified smart card manufacturer and personalization bureau with more than 15 years of experience in card production and personalization. It delivers a variety of cards to banking and retail customers in Bangladesh and abroad. Currently it delivers over 12 million payment cards annually.
“Biometric Payment Cards is a high-impact initiative and the future of contactless payments, lifting safety and convenience to a completely new level for our issuer customers and consumers alike. We see Zwipe Pay ONE as the state-of-the-art technology on biometric payment cards and look forward to a close collaboration with Zwipe,” says Sk Farid Ahmed, Managing Director of Silkways Card & Printing Ltd.
As part of the collaboration, Zwipe will deliver the Zwipe Pay ONE technology platform and expert guidance to help Silkcard manufacture and personalize biometric card payments for issuer clients. Silkcard will also work with Zwipe in commercializing biometric payment solutions in Bangladesh, helping the banks through all stages of pilot, launch and mass market rollout.
“We are very pleased to partner with Silkcard, one of the strongest providers in Bangladesh. With a population of over 166 million and an economy growing over 7% per year, this market represents significant growth potential for our innovation from security, financial inclusion and innovation perspectives. Together with Silkcard we will bring next-generation contactless payment cards in this fast-growing market,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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About Silkways Card & Printing Ltd
Silkways card & printing Ltd (Silkcard) is a pioneering venture for manufacturing & personalization of smartcards in Bangladesh with its state-of-the-art production facility located at the heart of Dhaka, Bangladesh. The vision of Silkcard is to comply with the ethical standards in business operations, financial disclosures, accountability and legal compliance. To learn more, visit www.silkways.net/silkcard
For further information please contact: Sk. Farid Ahmed Manik, MD, +88 01711 527359
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY and AMMAN, JORDAN – 2 June 2021 – Middle East Payment Services (MEPS), a leading regional one-stop-shop for payment services and products, is partnering with biometric fintech Zwipe to bring next generation contactless payment cards in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region.
MEPS is a principal issuer and acquirer of payment cards in Jordan, Iraq, Palestine, and provides card issuance services to 27 financial institutions in this territory. The two organizations will collaborate closely, offering a more seamless and secure payment solution to customers by combining MEPS’s Issuance Platform and the Zwipe Pay ONE biometric card platform, supported by Zwipe’s card manufacturing partners in the MENA region.
Commenting on the partnership Ali Abdel Jabbar, Chief Executive Officer at MEPS, said “We are delighted to take this big step with Zwipe, a well-known technology brand in biometric payments. The disruptive Zwipe Pay ONE platform based on “single silicon” design will help us to uplift our end-to-end payments offering to our bank clients in the region. Zwipe Pay ONE is recognized as the most advanced (Gen3) biometric payment technology and complements MEPS’ innovative card portfolio. We are aiming to make it available for our clients for piloting and commercial deployment during H2 2021”.
As part of this collaboration, MEPS will offer Zwipe Pay ONE biometric payment cards with primary focus on Jordan, Iraq and Palestine. Both partners will start engaging with issuers from Q2 2021. “MEPS is one of the pioneers in delivering innovative payment solution in the MENA region. We are very pleased that MEPS will deliver its next generation payment cards based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform. This collaboration will further strengthen our footprints in the MENA region and accelerate the deployment of Zwipe Pay ONE in one of the world’s most dynamic markets for digital payments,” said Ramzi Saboury, General Manager for Zwipe in the MENA Region.
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About MEPS
Middle East Payment Services (MEPS), founded in 2009, is a Principal Issuer and Acquirer of Visa, MasterCard, and UnionPay, with presence in Jordan, Iraq, and Palestine. The company offers financial institutions, merchants, and corporations, a complete range of secure payment solutions in card issuance / hosting, payment processing, alternative payments, ecommerce acquiring, point-of-sale (POS) acquiring, ATM driving and management, and customized value-added services adhering to PCI Data Security Standards (PCI DSS). MEPS is owned by 10 Jordanian and regional banks.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free.
To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 2 June 2021 – In accordance with the mandate given at Zwipe AS’s annual general meeting on 19 May 2021 to the board of directors (“the Board”) to issue new options to the company’s employees under the company's existing long-term incentive program, the Board has resolved to issue 220,000 new share options to primary insiders.
The strike price was set at NOK 30.13 in accordance with established principles in the program.
The following primary insiders in the Company have been granted additional share options by the Board:
The existing share-based incentive program covers employees and members of the Board. Each option gives the holder the right to acquire one share from the company at a strike price defined in the individual share option agreement. All options are conditional that the grantee remains employed. All vested options may be exercised in any period prior to the expiry date. The options vest every 6 months over 3 years from grant date and may be exercised at vesting. The share-based incentive program is dedicated for allocation to company management and employees, whereby they may be offered the opportunity of participating in a value growth in company shares. This is expected to lead to an increase in interest in the company’s value development.
Until the AGM in 2022, the Board is authorized to issue up to 2,306,319 options, of which a total of 1,911,000 options have now been issued.
Primary insider notifications pursuant to article 19 of the market abuse regulation are linked to from the document:
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act § 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Market Oslo and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0) 8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 23:30 2 June 2021.
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For more information, please contact:
Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO
+47 991 661 35
lars.kristian@zwipe.com
Correction of Annual General Meeting minutes published 19 May - Corrected name Board of Directors:
OSLO, NORWAY– 19 May 2021 – The Annual General Meeting in Zwipe AS (Company) was held today. All proposed resolutions were approved unanimously in accordance with the call for the meeting. The minutes of Annual General Meeting are included as an attachment. The complete proposal, which was approved by the Annual General Meeting, is available on www.zwipe.com for further reference. The attendants of the AGM represented 27.3% of the votes in the company.
The following matters were reviewed and confirmed:
Approval of the annual report and financial statements for 2020:
The board’s proposal for the annual report and the financial statements for 2020 for the Company and the group were unanimously approved.
Election of members to the Board of Directors:
The following persons were unanimously elected to as the new Board of Directors:
Jörgen Lantto, Chairman of the board
Diderik Schonheyder
Johan Biehl
Dennis Jones
Stina Granberg
Tanya Juul Kjaer
Remuneration to the members of the Board of Directors and the members of the Nomination Committee
Remuneration to the Board members for the period from the AGM in 2021 until the AGM in 2022 were unanimously approved as follows:
Chairman of the Board: NOK 260,000,-
Members of the Board: NOK 130,000,-
No remuneration to the members of the Nomination Committee was resolved.
Board authorizations to increase the share capital and instructions to the Board regarding use of the authorization to increase the shares capital to strengthen the Company's equity
The Board proposed that two new authorizations for the Board on capital increases are issued, (i) to fulfil the Company's incentive program and (ii) to cater for strengthening of the Company's equity (extract, please see the attachment to the notice for the complete proposal).
i. Authorization for capital increase to fulfill the Company's incentive program
The Annual General Meeting resolved that the Board is hereby granted authorization to increase the share capital of Zwipe AS (the Company), on one or several occasions, with up to NOK 230,631.90 (2,306,319 new shares), equivalent to 7 % of the registered share capital at the time of this resolution. The authorization shall remain in force until the end of the annual general meeting 2022, however not beyond 30 June 2022. The pre-emptive right of the shareholders to subscribe may be set aside.
ii. Authorization for capital increase to strengthen the Company's equity
The Annual General Meeting resolved that the General Meeting granted a new authorization to the Board to issue shares corresponding to up to 15% of the share capital, and the new authorization shall be restricted to issue of shares to strengthen the Company's equity to the extent the Board considers this to be in the Company's best interest at the given time.
The authorization shall remain in force until the end of the annual general meeting 2022, however not beyond 30 June 2022. The pre-emptive right of the shareholders to subscribe may be set aside.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Market Oslo and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on May 20, 2021 at 09:15 CEST
About Zwipe
Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
For more information contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
