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.”
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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.
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*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.”
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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.
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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.
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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.”
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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.
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Q1 2019 highlights and recent developments
Status and outlook
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.”
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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.
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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
Dorian Barak
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 19, 2021 at 16:30 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
OSLO, NORWAY and TAOYUAN, TAIWAN – 11th May 2021 – Biometric fintech pioneer Zwipe and Beautiful Card Corporation (BCC) are pleased to announce their partnership to bring Zwipe Pay ONE to markets in Asia. With around 520 million cards produced annually, of which around 20 million are EMV payment cards, BCC is listed as the largest scratch card manufacturer in Taiwan, the 2nd largest in Asia and 7th in the world.
As part of the collaboration, BCC has already commenced manufacturing of biometric payment cards based on the Zwipe Pay ONE platform, embracing the next generation of biometric payment cards and aiming to address the increasing market demand for safer and more secure contactless payments.
Since agreeing on the partnership in December 2020, the two companies have been working closely to complete the fine-tuning of the technical aspects of the solution and begin to gear up to meet the increasing demand for biometric payments. Comprehensive and rigorous tests have proven the ability to scale up production with the aim of delivering pilots and commercial deployments before the end of 2021.
“We are seeing increasing interest in biometric payment cards in our region, especially as consumers become much more familiar with contactless payments and demand safer and more hygienic payment alternatives in store. We have worked seamlessly together and have been able to adapt our manufacturing processes to integrate Zwipe’s biometric solution in our card production and are very pleased with the results. We are excited to now take this partnership to the next level,” says Mrs. Peggy Wu, CEO and Chairman of BCC.
“The Asia Pacific Region, led by countries like Taiwan, Korea, Japan, and India, continues to innovate and lead the world in many areas of payment card technology. We are very pleased that BCC is embracing the Zwipe platform and bringing our collaboration forward, to jointly address the needs of banks and consumers in Asia and global markets,” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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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
About Beautiful Card Corporation
Beautiful Card Corporation (BCC) was founded in October 1991. BCC has state-of-the-art equipment and professional specialists to fulfil their consistent management policy of providing high-quality products with competitive price. Since BCC’s founding, they have been developing new technology in card industry as well as continuously putting efforts to the innovation and improvement of all sorts of cards. Thanks to their continuous efforts, BCC’s capacity was recognized and approved by customers all over the world. BCC’s annual capacity now reaches 200 million Scratch cards, 300 million GSM SIM cards, 20 million EMV cards. BCC has obtained ISO 9001 / IS27001/ ISO14001/ ISO 45001/ ISO14298/MasterCard CQM / Visa / MasterCard / JCB / GSM SAS certifications.
Media Contact for Beautiful Card Corporation: shellen@beautifulcard.com
To learn more, please visit: http://www.card.com.tw/en/about.php
OSLO, NORWAY and CHENNAI, INDIA – 10 May 2021 – FSS (Financial Software and Systems), a leading global provider of integrated payment products and a payment processor, is partnering with Zwipe to bring next generation contactless payment cards to issuers globally. Zwipe is a payment FinTech recognized for having pioneered the development of biometric payments and has delivered many successful pilots around the world.
FSS is among the leading providers of card issuance products globally and its card portfolio consists of 800 plus million payment cards for Tier One banks and payment processors. The organizations will collaborate closely, offering greater value to customers by combining FSS’s Unified Issuance Platform and Zwipe Pay One biometric card capabilities, supported by Zwipe’s fast-growing global network of card manufacturing partners.
The widespread adoption of contactless payment cards has been a huge success in recent years[1]. The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated the use of contactless payments even further as consumers demand a safe, contact-free transacting environment. However, the lack of cardholder authentication with contactless cards translates into usage being restricted to relatively small and medium value payments, hampering the ability to deliver a fully contact-free experience for all payment values. The response to this is the biometric payment card that fully enables contact-free transactions while boosting confidence and security for consumers, retailers and issuers.
Commenting on the partnership K Srinivasan, Chief Operating Officer, FSS PayTech, said “Biometric payment cards will bring strong differentiation and value uplift to our card issuance and management offerings. Our partnership with Zwipe will help our issuer clients to deliver a completely touchless and PIN-free check out experience, better in-store payments hygiene and much stronger cardholder security. Needless to say, now more than ever, innovation can play a critical role within the context of the global pandemic which makes it even more important to bring solutions such as this quickly to our customers. Zwipe Pay ONE is recognized as the most advanced (Gen3) biometric payment technology and complements FSS’ innovative card portfolio. It will be made available to our clients for piloting and deployment from H2 2021”.
As part of this collaboration, FSS will offer Zwipe Pay ONE biometric payment cards globally. The initial focus will be in those markets where contactless is bringing considerable benefits in the area of financial inclusion as seen in Canada, India and a number of countries within Europe, Middle East (GCC countries) and Africa. Both partners will start engaging with issuers from Q2 2021 and aim for starting pilots from 2H 2021.
“We are humbled and proud to partner with FSS, one of the most respected and global providers of payment services. This is a landmark agreement for Zwipe and will significantly accelerate our growth globally, most notably in Asia, the world’s largest payment market,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the Continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Market Oslo, 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 10:05 CEST on 10 May 2021.
About FSS
Financial Software and Systems (FSS) is a leader in payments technology and transaction processing. The company offers an integrated portfolio of software products, hosted payment services and software solutions built over 30+ years of experience. FSS, end-to-end payments products suite, powers retail delivery channels including ATM, POS, Internet and Mobile as well as critical back-end functions including cards management, reconciliation, settlement, merchant management and device monitoring. Headquartered in Chennai, India, FSS services leading global banks, financial institutions, processors, central regulators and governments across North America, UK, Europe, ME, Africa, and APAC and has 2,500 experts on-board. For more information visit www.fsstech.com
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 - 28 April 2021 - The board of directors of Zwipe AS (“the Company”) call for the Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) to be held on 19 May 2021 at 14:00 CEST. Due to the ongoing covid-19 pandemic, the general meeting will be held as a digital meeting on Microsoft Teams.
Please find enclosed the notice of the Annual General Meeting. The notice and Zwipe’s Annual Report for 2020 are available on the Company’s website, https://zwipe.com/investors
Notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 18 May 2021 at 16:00 CEST. Shareholders are encouraged to register via the link found 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.
In order to be invited to the meeting, Zwipe’s administration will need to have the shareholder’s email address in advance. Shareholders must after having registered their attendance also register their email address by sending an email to ir@zwipe.com.
The board of directors (the "Board") has proposed the following agenda:
Opening of the General Meeting by the chair. Registration of meeting shareholders
Election of a meeting chairperson and person to co-sign the minutes together with the chairperson
Approval of the notice and the agenda
Report by the management on the Company
Approval of the annual report and financial statements for 2020 for the Company and the group
Remuneration to the auditor
Election of members to the Board
Remuneration to the Board and the members of the Nomination Committee
Proposal to grant the board a new authorization to increase the share capital
Proposed decisions from the Board
Matter no. 5: Approval of the annual report and financial statements for 2020 for the Company and the group
The boards proposal for annual report and financial statements for 2020 for the Company and the group were unanimously approved.
Matter no. 6: Remuneration to the auditor
The Board proposes that the auditor's fees are paid as per accounts rendered.
Matter no. 7: Election of members to the Board
Subject to the general meeting's approval, the Company's Board of Directors will comprise:
Jörgen Lantto, Chairman of the board
Johan Biehl
Dennis Jones
Diderik Schonheyder
Stina Granberg
Tanya Juul Kjaer
Matter no. 8: Remuneration to the members of the Board and the members of the Nomination Committee
The Nomination Committee makes the following recommendation:
Fees to the Board for the period from the AGM in 2020 until the AGM in 2021 were resolved by the AGM on 14 May 2020.
Fees to the Board for the period from the AGM in 2021 until the AGM in 2022 is suggested as follows:
Chairman of the Board: NOK 260.000,-
Members of the Board: NOK 130.000,-
As to remuneration, the nomination committee proposes that no remuneration is paid to the members of the nomination committee.
Matter no. 9: Proposal on authorizations to the Board on capital increase
The Board proposes 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.
The Board proposes that the General Meeting adopts the following resolution:
1. Authorization for capital increase to fulfill the Company's incentive program
The board of directors is hereby granted authorization to increase the share capital of Zwipe AS, on one or several occasions, with up to NOK 230,498.90 (2,304,989), equivalent to 7 % of the registered share capital at the time of this resolution.
2. Authorization for capital increase to strengthen the Company's equity
The Board proposes that the General Meeting grants 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 board of directors is hereby granted authorization to increase the share capital of Zwipe AS with up to NOK 493,926.10 (4,939,261 new shares) on one or several occasions.
The authorization may be used to issue 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.
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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, at 17:35 CEST on 28 April 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
OSLO, NORWAY - 28 April 2021 - In connection with our first quarter 2021 update, Zwipe is today for the first time publicly demonstrating the world’s first Single Silicon Biometric System on Card that is being offered to card manufacturers globally – namely Zwipe Pay ONE.
A first quarter operational update webcast will be given at 12:00 CEST today. You can register for the presentation by sending an email to events@arctic.com.
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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, ir@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 28 APRIL 2021 –
Q1 2021 Highlights
During the first quarter 2021, Zwipe continued to strengthen its foundation for mass-volume roll out of biometric payment cards.
Swedish fintech Vopy, a provider of embedded financial services for telecom and financial institutions globally, selected the Zwipe Pay ONE platform for its biometric payment cards.
Zwipe announced the finalization of four new partnerships with prominent card manufacturers in Asia-Pacific and Europe. The combined annual card shipment from these new customers is more than 1 billion, of which payment cards constitute more than 150 million.
Tag Systems, a leading provider of payment cards (and part of AUSTRIACARD Group), decided to strengthen its collaboration with Zwipe to bring the most advanced new biometric payment cards to issuers in Europe and North America. The group delivers 100 million payment cards each year across Europe, the Middle East and the US. Tag Systems also placed a small initial order for Zwipe Pay ONE.
Developments after the period
KL HI-TECH, the 2nd largest payment card manufacturer in India selected the Zwipe Pay ONE platform to deliver biometric payment cards to its clients in India and key international markets. KL HI-TECH serves some of India's largest banks and delivers approximately 30 million payment cards per year.
French payment solutions provider be ys Pay selected Zwipe to offer biometric payment cards to the French, Belgian, Luxembourg and Dutch markets. be ys Pay is an integral part of the international be ys ecosystem, present on three continents with more than 3 000 employees.
To strengthen its strategic engagements in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) and India, Zwipe has appointed Ramzi Saboury as General Manager for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region and Masterline as Strategic Business Partner in India and other selected markets in the MEA region.
CEO Comment
During the first quarter of 2021, Zwipe has seen significant progress on all fronts – operationally, technologically and organizationally.
We continued to grow our ecosystem of smart card manufacturers and go-to-market partners, while cementing our collaboration with key technology partners in the payments value chain. We have taken major steps towards technology readiness with our Zwipe Pay ONE platform, passing critical milestones and risk points and successfully performing fully functional internal test transactions with Zwipe Pay ONE demo cards. Consequently, we are on track to support our partners launch pilots after the summer. We have also onboarded key expert resources onto our team, strengthening the Zwipe organization even further.
The first quarter was characterized by a continued high level of activity and we finalized many key agreements. Swedish fintech Vopy, chose Zwipe Pay ONE for issuing biometric payment cards to their global telecom and financial institutions client network. The four agreements with prominent card manufacturers in Asia-Pacific and Europe, with a combined yearly shipment of more than 150 million payment cards announced during the quarter, was another recognition of the attractiveness of our offering. Subject to positive pilot results, mass-market rollout will follow. The renewal and strengthening of our commercial partnership with TAG Systems, including TAG Nitecrest in the UK, further reinforced our foundation for market success, especially in Europe and North America.
We ended a solid quarter and kick-started the next announcing agreements with KL HI-TECH, India's second-largest card manufacturer (delivering 30 million payment cards annually), and French payment provider be ys Pay, which will bring biometric payment cards based on our platform to banks in France and the Benelux region. KL HI-TECH is now ramping up its industrialization efforts to deliver Zwipe Pay ONE biometric payment cards to leading issuers in India and selected markets in the Middle East and Africa.
In response to strong interest in Zwipe Pay ONE Cards from card manufacturers, card bureaus, issuers and consumers in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region and in India, we have established a local presence by appointing a highly experienced General Manager for the MENA region and entering a collaboration with Masterline, a well-connected player in the field of fintech and payment solutions, as a Strategic Business Partner in India and beyond. We have also further strengthened our organization with several top payment industry talents both in the commercial and the R&D team. I am particularly delighted to welcome our new Chief Sales Officer, John Goodale, to my management team. John, who has a long and proven track record from one of the world’s largest processors, TSYS, and also from professional services at KPMG and DMR Consulting, is leading Zwipe’s engagement and conversion efforts with smart card manufacturers. He is also supporting our engagements with issuers and selected go-to-market partners to further strengthen Zwipe’s position in the global biometric payments market.
The growing interest in biometric payment cards has been noted in several independent analyst reports in recent months (notably from UBS, ABI Research, Goode Intelligence). The common theme in all these reports is their increased volume projections for biometric payment cards over the next 3 to 5 years, suggesting a share of 15-20 % of issued payment cards in 2026.
Since the outbreak of the pandemic a number of countries raised the contactless transaction limits in response to safety concerns from consumers when having to touch the payment terminals (most recently the UK treasury increased the contactless limit from 45 to 100 pounds).
While increasing the contactless limit is a very pragmatic solution in the pandemic times, this solution is unfortunately not very sustainable due to the underlying concerns on the lack of security in contactless payments. These concerns were also obvious from consumers’ comments in discussion forums when the UK treasure decided to more than double the contactless limits. For us, this is further proof that the natural and sustainable step from contact-less payments is contact-free payments, facilitated by biometric payment cards.
As we near completion of the development of Zwipe Pay ONE, which has been a journey we embarked on together with IDEMIA and other key partners almost two years ago, I am very excited to enter into the next phase of increased commercial efforts and subsequent roll-out to consumers.
Zwipe has a historically strong pipeline, a highly competent, passionate and agile organization managing a disruptive technology that is in demand in the market, and a robust ecosystem of partners taking an increasingly proactive role in promoting Zwipe. This is all laying a strong foundation for long-term value creation. The journey has just begun.
Financial Update
Sales revenues in Q1 2021 were MNOK 0.3 (MNOK 0.4).
Average monthly operational cash flow was MNOK -6.3 in Q1 2021 versus MNOK -5.8 in Q1 2020. The increase is in line with higher activity in the company. During the last quarter of 2020 and first quarter of 2021, Zwipe has increased its staff in response to the increased demand for piloting and deployment of our payment solutions and services.
Zwipe was granted a second bank loan of MNOK 2.1 in February 2021 through the second draw of the US Paycheck Protection Program (PPP). The loan is payable in five years. Zwipe may be eligible for partial or full loan forgiveness given fulfilment of a set of requirements.
The closing cash balance at the end of Q1 2021 was MNOK 108.9 (MNOK 54.6). The development in cash balance since Q4 2020 is primarily a result of operational cash flow of MNOK -18.8 and the second PPP bank loan of MNOK 2.1.
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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, 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 08:00 CET on 28 April 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
Oslo, Norway – 12 April 2021 – On the back of strong interest from card manufacturers, card bureaus and issuers in the MENA Region and in India, biometric technology company Zwipe has established presence in these two key regions by appointing a General Manager for the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) Region and entering a collaboration with a Strategic Business Partner in India.
Ramzi Saboury, Zwipe’s newly appointed General Manager in MENA
Mr. Saboury has a distinguished career spanning over 26 years within Payment Services at leading banks in Kuwait, as regional GM for Levant at Visa Inc. and as CCO at areeba. During these years, he has successfully established many financial services, most notably within contactless payments and mobile technologies. In 2018, Mr. Saboury was awarded by the Asian Bankers Organization “The 50 Most Promising Young Leaders in the Banking and Financial Services industry for APAC and the Middle East Regions”.
“Zwipe's decision to strengthen its position in MENA fits perfectly with the transformations that are taking place in the global payments market. I am delighted to have joined Zwipe's team and I am already busy driving biometric payment cards and Zwipe Pay ONE in a region that is very keen for such advanced solutions,” says Ramzi Saboury.
Masterline, newly appointed Strategic Business Partner in India
Zwipe has also entered a collaboration with Masterline as Strategic Business Partner to accelerate deployment of the Zwipe Pay ONE platform in India and key markets in the Middle East and Africa (MEA). Masterline possesses a proficiency from over 20 years of driving sales and deployment of smart card products, SIM cards and recharge scratch cards. It is a seasoned and well-connected player in the field of fintech and payment solutions in the region and beyond.
"The Masterline team and I are delighted to proactively assist the on-the-ground customer and go-to-market partner on-boarding on behalf of Zwipe in these regions. We are promoting the disruptive Zwipe Pay ONE platform both to smart card manufacturers and banks. There is significant market interest and we see great potential for biometric payment cards in India and elsewhere,” says Naresh Nanda, Founder and Managing Director of Masterline Group.
Commenting on these developments, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, says "Our end-to-end, one-stop-shop offering to enable launch of biometric payment cards is welcomed by players across the payments value chain, both in the MENA region and in India. Ramzi’s expertise in driving payment innovations to successful businesses in the MENA region and Masterline’s formidable track record in scaling smart card products in India and certain MEA markets will be key in accelerating the mass market deployment of Zwipe Pay ONE-powered payment cards”.
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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
About Masterline
Masterline has effectively, since 1994, delivered telecom and fintech solution whilst expanding its sales footprints in 30+ countries. A veteran in sales and supply of recharge cards and smart cards industry, along with strategic telecom devices & fintech solutions, Masterline has provisioned companies in serving over 27 million mobile users across the world. With 27+ years of experience, Masterline group, works with cutting-edge technologies, exceptional strategic planning, keeping prime thrust on global aspirations while guaranteeing complete client satisfaction. For more information, visit www.masterline.in
Contact: Naresh Nanda, Founder | Managing Director; info@masterline.in
Oslo, Norway and Paris, France - April 7, 2021 - French payment solutions provider be ys Pay (pronounced “be-wise” pay), a fintech dedicated to payment technologies is partnering with Zwipe, a Norwegian fintech dedicated to biometric payment solutions, to offer biometric payment cards to the French, Belgian, Luxembourg and Dutch markets.
Biometric payment cards allow consumers to conduct contactless transactions securely through authentication with their fingerprints. The innovation offered by Zwipe is based on highly secure authentication technology.
The purpose of the partnership is to offer Zwipe Pay ONE-enabled biometric payment cards to be ys Pay customers. The partners will together engage with the issuers from Q2 2021 and have the ambition to deliver pilots from H2 2021.
Mirko Koscina, president of be ys Pay, says: "Biometric payment cards represent the future, particularly in this period of health crisis since the payment transactions will be completely contact free. These cards will provide added security and convenience to consumers. As for the financial institutions, those who make use of this solution will stand to gain significantly in the long term”.
be ys Pay is an integral part of the international be ys ecosystem, present on three continents with more than three thousand employees. Expert in the mass processing, storage and securing of sensitive data, be ys operates trusted digital ecosystems for any economic activity requiring mastery of digital identity, processing of personal and confidential data flows, at the service and in support of natural and legal persons, for the French health sector for twenty years, and more recently for legal professionals, social landlords, banks, and large international companies. be ys has its own data center, "La Citadelle", located in Clermont-Ferrand, at the highest level of security in Europe, and is recognized as a Qualified Trust Services Provider. be ys is also an associate member of the Open Lab of CERN in Geneva.
"We are delighted that be ys Pay is introducing Zwipe Pay ONE biometric payment cards in strategic markets, such as France and the Benelux. Thanks to be ys Pay's network of banking customers, this collaboration will further strengthen our ability to offer a contactless payment experience for cardholders and issuers in Europe,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
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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
About be ys Pay
We are a fintech company dedicated to payment technologies. Our philosophy involves the use of innovation and technology to overcome limitations. In be ys Pay we offer solutions throughout the entire life cycle of payment methods and integrate payment solutions into global and local schemes. We are experts in cryptography and deep knowledge of security. Subsequently, we can apply the technology to solutions that improve the efficiency and relationships between companies and their customers.
Our solutions:
- Card issuance: we have the technological capacity and flexibility to personalize cards that do what you want
- Onboarding of customers in presence and digital
- E-wallet - tokenization
- 3D secure
- Payment terminal for shops
To learn more about our company and solutions please visit our website https://www.be-ys-pay.com/
For further information please contact: Laura Bernal marketing Manager +330645246241
The correction is with reference to the total number of cards delivered per year by KL HI-TECH.
OSLO, NORWAY and HYDERABAD, INDIA – 6 April 2021 – KL HI-TECH, one of India’s largest payment card manufacturers, has selected the Zwipe Pay ONE platform to deliver biometric payment cards to its clients in India and key international markets. Zwipe is a FinTech that has pioneered the development of biometric payment cards and delivered many successful pilots globally.
Founded in 1988, KL HI-TECH currently delivers a total of 50 million cards per year, of which approximately 30 million are payment cards, serving some of the largest banks in India and abroad. As per the recent Nilson Report (2020) KL HI-TECH is the 2nd largest payment card manufacturer in India and the 31st largest in the world.
KL-HI TECH engaged with Zwipe in early 2021 and after extensive evaluation of available alternatives selected Zwipe Pay ONE as the preferred biometric card platform for its next generation payment cards.
"KL HI-TECH has over three decades of experience in helping drive our clients’ growth through differentiation and innovation in payments. We are constantly seeking new technologies & innovations to enhance the payment experience to people in India and across the globe.
With the impact of the pandemic still being felt across India, consumers’ focus on safety and hygiene has increased significantly. In collaboration with Zwipe, we will deliver physical cards that will enable payments to be completely touch-less through a PIN-free checkout experience for consumers with much higher security. Our assessment shows that Zwipe Pay ONE represents the most advanced and high-performing solution and will be the first mass-market viable platform”, said P. Srinivas Rao, Chairman & CEO of KL HI-TECH.
As part of this agreement, Zwipe will provide biometric technology and technical services to enable KL HI-TECH to manufacture Zwipe Pay ONE test cards from Q2 2021. The partners are already jointly engaging with issuers in India with the aim of launching pilots from Q3 2021 and supporting the first full market launches towards the end of this year. "We are extremely pleased that KL HI-TECH has selected Zwipe Pay ONE as their biometric payment card platform. India is one of the world’s most attractive payment markets in size, growth rates and business potential. Complementing each other, Zwipe and KL HI-TECH will leverage each other’s unique technology, product and market assets, including KL HI-TECH’s extensive relationships with the leading banks in India, the Middle East and Africa, to offer innovative biometric payment solutions,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 991 66 135 info@zwipe.com
About KL HI-Tech
KL HI-TECH Secure Print Limited (KLHT) is a leading provider of secure print products and printing solutions. Commencing its operations in 1988, KLHT has played a pioneering role in enabling secure payment transactions, banking services and facilitating tele communications in India through its secure print products.
At its sprawling state-of-the-art highly secure manufacturing facility located in Hyderabad, the company operates using stringent global standards that are required to manufacture a range of security printing products.
The company is certified by Visa, Mastercard & RuPay (National Payments Corporation of India). As per the Nilson Report (2020) KL HI-TECH is the 2nd largest banking card manufacturer in India and 31st largest banking card manufacturer in the world.
KLHT’s business ideology revolves around the prime objective of providing comprehensive, fool-proof security in critical secure print products. KLHT plays a pivotal role by manufacturing products for the following sectors:
Banks and Financial Institutions
Central and State Governments
Educational Boards and Institutions
Telecom Sector
Nationwide Election Commissions
Transport Sector
Exporting to over 52 countries across the Globe, KLHT aims to become one of the leading suppliers of secure print products globally, whilst also pioneering innovation and change to the way payments are made in India and across the globe.For further information please contact Kartik Shekar, VP – Projects, kartik@klhitech.com, +91 8008 188 466
