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OSLO, NORWAY – 7 MAY 2020 –

Q1 2020 Highlights

  • Zwipe has significantly expanded its efforts towards smart card manufacturers in the last quarter. Zwipe is now in direct dialogue or conducting projects with over 40 of the world’s top 50 smart card manufacturers (SCMs), out of which 8 are among world’s top 10. This is an increase from 29 during March alone
  • Zwipe announced that Masria Digital Payments (MDP), one of the largest smart card manufacturers in the Middle East and Africa, has selected Zwipe to support its drive to roll out biometric payment solutions
  • Zwipe listed on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Sweden under the ticker symbol “ZWIPE”, in parallel with its listing on Oslo Børs Merkur Market
  • Zwipe quickly adapted to the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic, implementing remote work and travel bans and expanding the use of digital platforms to strengthen ongoing technical and commercial activities. The pandemic has so far not caused any significant disruptions or delays to Zwipe’s current operational, strategic or financial objectives. On the other hand, it has highlighted the hygienic benefits of never-touch biometric payment cards
  • The streamlining program announced and implemented in November 2019 is on track and monthly spending is declining during the quarter in accordance with the ambitions set in the program
  • Average monthly operational cash outflow of MNOK 5.9 in Q1 2020 versus MNOK 8.8 in Q4 2019 and MNOK 5.3 in Q1 2019. Additionally, for the quarter, a second of four co-investment installments with Idemia of approx. MNOK 9.7 was paid out

Developments after the period

  • Zwipe, IDEMIA and IDEX announced the achievement of a key technical milestone towards its next generation card platform Zwipe Pay ONE, emphasizing that the project is on track to meet time and unit cost targets
  • Zwipe announced the signing of an agreement that will see Zwipe combining IDEX Biometrics sensor products with the Zwipe Pay ONE platform to enable a complete system solution for biometric payment cards
  • Zwipe announced that Toppan Forms, the strongest local SCM in Hong Kong and Macau, partnered with Zwipe to prepare to offer biometric payment cards
  • Zwipe announced that Asia Credit Card, a specialist SCM based in Hong Kong, partnered with Zwipe to offer biometric payment products and services
  • Zwipe’s grant application to SkatteFUNN, a Norwegian government run R&D tax incentive scheme, was approved with an amount of MNOK 5, as in recent years. The payment is expected during Q4 2020.  

CEO Comment

André Løvestam, Chief Executive Officer at Zwipe, said:

“Q1 2020 has been an intense quarter for Zwipe.

We started the year by listing on the Nasdaq First North Growth Market on January 28th, and have seen considerable interest in Zwipe across the Swedish investment community.

This quarter has also been marked by unprecedented global uncertainty tied to the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. With the aim to protect our employees from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Zwipe quickly adapted with various protective measures such as remote work and travel bans. We have been able to continue operating remotely, with little to no impact being seen across our operations. Our commercial team has ramped up activity and been able to engage more frequently and openly as a result of the entire industry transitioning to videoconferencing as opposed to travel-intensive face-to-face meetings.

We observe an extensive focus on and interest in the improved hygiene and safety of biometric payment solutions; the awareness of biometric advantages is significantly higher than pre-Corona. This elevated focus on safety has significantly increased the growth of contactless transactions, and transaction caps have been raised all over the world1. Hygiene may become an accelerator and game-changer for biometric payments. A biometric payment card effectively eliminates the need to ever touch the payment terminal keypad – regular cards require PIN above the transaction limit, after a set number of transactions, and when the cumulative value of transactions has reached its limit.

We are seeing growing momentum across the payment ecosystem with increasing investment in supporting biometric payment card deployment. Zwipe is now working closely with partners across the value chain in developing a highly competitive offering in terms of energy efficiency and biometric performance at industry-leading manufacturing costs; Zwipe Pay ONE. This next generation contactless technology will achieve a radically lower total manufacturing cost per card, which we believe will be key to accelerate the volume market take-off. Therefore, we are proud and satisfied that the Zwipe Pay ONE project and the collaboration with Idemia and Idex is on track, as announced in April. The first samples of the new single chip have been manufactured and successfully powered-on. This development is very positive as our customers wish to get access to Zwipe Pay ONE as early as possible to be able to serve card issuers with the market’s most cost-effective biometric payment cards.

Recent certification industry announcements bring further confidence to the trajectory of biometric payment card rollout. Certification of payment products is a rigorous and capital-intensive process for card manufacturers and a strong signal of intent to capitalize on the next natural step for payment cards, following the introduction of dual-interface payment cards in 2007.

I am also satisfied with the very good progress in the wearable project announced with G+D in September, as this project is also on track.

Looking ahead, we are committed to supporting our customers to elevate their product portfolios by making it easy to integrate biometric payment solutions. Key to this work is technical deliverables and sharing the expertise we have built from having the most widely piloted solution to position, educate and market biometric payment cards to banks and issuers. We are doing everything in our power to build and maintain strong relationships with our industry-leading partners that will create sustainable long-term commercial opportunities for themselves and Zwipe going forward.”

Financial Update

  • The cost program announced in November 2019 is on track, yielding lower spending in Q1 than in previous quarters. Full effect is planned from Q2 and onwards
  • The weakening of the Norwegian Krone has resulted in somewhat higher NOK spending, as Zwipe has most of its costs in foreign currency. However, mitigating measures have been executed to ensure low effect on operations
  • During Q1 2020 Zwipe had revenue of MNOK 0.4 from NRE (non-recurring engineering) invoiced for specific development work.
  • Average monthly operational cash outflow during Q1 2020 was MNOK 5.9 (5.3), and in line with expectations for the period, compared to MNOK 8.8 in Q4 2019.
  • The closing balance at end of Q1 2020 was MNOK 54.6 (85.9 by Q1 2019). The development in cash balance since Q4 2019, which was MNOK 23,3, is a result of a capital raise of net MNOK 58.3, a joint technology investment with Idemia of MNOK -9.7 and the operational cash flow of MNOK -17.7 for the quarter.

###

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, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, on May 7, 2020 at 08:30 CEST

1 Examples: https://www.thelocal.de/20200321/cash-loving-germany-switches-to-contact-less-card-payment-due-to-coronavirus-fears

https://www.dailysabah.com/business/economy/more-turkish-consumers-go-cashless-as-they-opt-for-card-payments-amidcoronavirusoutbreak

OSLO, NORWAY – 28 APRIL 2020  Biometric fintech company Zwipe is pleased to announce that Asia Credit Card Production Ltd. (ACC), a specialist smart card manufacturer based in Hong Kong, has chosen to partner with Zwipe in order to offer and roll out a range of biometric payment specific products and services including cards, wearables, enrolment and customer onboarding solutions.

ACC has an extensive smart card product portfolio with a large client base in a wide range of industries worldwide.  ACC has begun integrating Zwipe’s biometric inlay platform into their smart card production facility in order to prepare for the launch of Zwipe Pay ONE when it becomes available later this year.

“We strongly believe that biometric payment cards are the future and there is a strong market for payment cards in the fast-moving Asia Pacific region even in the face of surging smartphone use. Working now to integrate Zwipe’s technology, we are confident that we will have a truly disruptive offering that will enable us to significantly grow our banking customer base in the region and beyond,” said Gary Li, Managing Director of Asia Credit Card Production Ltd.

As an essential manufacturer in the heart of APAC, ACC is now working at full capacity.  On the back of their commitment to issuing biometric payment cards this year, the company is in the process of completing the application process for full card scheme certification to expand its portfolio of offerings to leading issuers across the region.

“We continue to build our global portfolio of customer relationships, which will be instrumental in the roll-out of future products. The partnership with ACC will further broaden our access to the Asian markets,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.

###

About Asia Credit Card Production LTD

ACC is a leading professional RFID card and smart card manufacturer. Headquartered in Hong Kong and production plant in Shenzhen, China. With over 20 years of experience in card industry, ACC is offering top quality products and services compliant to industry standards and customer requirements.  We continuously strengthen partnerships with our strategic alliances and industry leaders to fulfill our commitment to the industry.

For more information contact: James Duran, +852 2389 3393 james@asia-cc.com.hk

OSLO, NORWAY– 23 APRIL 2020 – The Nomination Committee of Zwipe AS has proposed the nomination of two leading payment and technology professionals to its board of directors to be voted upon at its upcoming Annual General Meeting to be held virtually on 14 May 2020. 

Mr. Diderik Schonheyder is a recognized authority on payment products, services and systems development with more than 35 years’ experience as an executive, advisor and investor in the information technology and telecommunications industry.  He previously served in global roles at Visa International and MasterCard, and currently operates a consultancy company focused on payment ecosystems.

Mr. Pål Eivind Vegard is a seasoned entrepreneur, investor, and board member who has been active for over three decades in the telecommunications and software industries in Europe. He established Tele1 Europe in Norway in 1998 before going on to fund several companies. Through his investment company, Concito, he was one of the early backers of Zwipe and he served on Zwipe’s board from 2011 to 2016. He was also an early investor and chairman of the board in Onecall, today a successful mobile brand owned by Telia. 

In addition to Diderik Schonheyder and Pål Eivind Vegard, the Nomination Committee proposes that Dorian Barak, Johan Biehl, Dennis Jones and Jörgen Lantto (Chairman) are re-elected as Directors of the Board.

###

OSLO, NORWAY– 22 April 2020 – Biometric fintech company Zwipe is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited, the strongest local card manufacturer in the Hong Kong and Macau region, to collaborate on the product positioning, development and commercialization of biometric payment cards.

Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited has an extensive customer network with the large banks in Hong Kong and Macau, offering a wide range of data management and card solutions. The company is an authorized VISA, MasterCard, China UnionPay, JCB and AMEX card manufacturer in Hong Kong. Using the strengths it has obtained in the data management area, the company is working to create new value as a digital hybrid company that is able to provide products and services with security elements.

 “Biometric payment cards can be a lucrative product for us considering the types of banks we have as customers, with many high net worth clients. We are eager to integrate Zwipe’s technology including Zwipe Pay ONE, providing a premium status product which strengthens the contactless payment experience enabling more secure and convenient options for cardholders thanks to its enhanced biometric features,” said Mr. Joseph Hui, Deputy Managing Director of Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited.

“Our collaboration with Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited is another important step for Zwipe as we prepare to roll out our Zwipe Pay ONE platform. Working with strong local players connected to leading issuers in their markets will be instrumental in enabling the scaling of our offering going forward,” said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.

###

About Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited.

Toppan Forms (Hong Kong) Group founded Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited (TFCT) in 1982 as its first step of diversification in becoming a trusted total service provider. We provide a variety of card solutions, card issuance systems and services for the ever-expanding IT market. In light of our company mission to be an innovation frontier, the company enriches the integrated IT solutions offering in terms of Robotic Solutions, Access Control and e-Application. The company is working to create new value as a Digital Hybrid Company that is able to provide products and services from both the analog and digital aspects. To visit our website www.toppanforms.com

For more information, please contact us +852 2519 6388 contact@toppanforms.com

OSLO, NORWAY – 20 April 2020 – Zwipe, a leading biometric fintech company, and IDEX Biometrics, a leading provider of fingerprint identification technologies, announce that they have signed an agreement that will see Zwipe combining IDEX Biometrics sensor products  with the Zwipe Pay ONE platform to enable a complete system solution for biometric payment cards.  

Zwipe Pay ONE is a technology platform based on a single-chip biometric secure element with operating system and relevant proprietary software. The result will be a compelling biometric payment card offering to card manufacturers in the global market.

The two companies also plan to formalize cross-licensing of intellectual property and a joint marketing approach as Zwipe Pay ONE with IDEX sensor becomes available for piloting.

“We are excited to work closely with Zwipe, a pioneer in the biometric payment card market. We believe the combination of Zwipe Pay ONE with IDEX next generation sensor has strong potential to become a market leading solution. IDEX is providing fingerprint sensors and technical expertise towards the shared goal of accelerating adoption of biometric payment cards,said Vincent Graziani, CEO of IDEX Biometrics.

“IDEX Biometrics has developed a next-generation fingerprint sensor. We are ideally positioned to take a leading position in the biometric payments market, providing smart card manufacturers with a superior offering in terms of energy efficiency and biometric performance at industry-leading manufacturing costs", said André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.

###

 COURBEVOIE, FRANCE and OSLO, NORWAY– 08 April 2020 – 

  • IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity, and ZWIPE, a leading biometric fin-tech company, announce today, as per plan1, the arrival of the first engineering samples of the next generation of the biometric secure element
  • This device will be the heart of the F.CODE next generation biometric card that IDEMIA will sell to Financial Institutions
  • ZWIPE, the holder of worldwide and exclusive rights to distribute this technology, will benefit from early availability of this new platform for their customers2
  • IDEMIA has selected IDEX Biometrics, a leading provider of advanced fingerprint identification and authentication solutions, as supplier of the biometric sensor for the new platform.
  • The three companies will be piloting in the second half of 2020, with commercial rollout planned from 2021 and onwards.

Following the exclusive partnership and distribution agreement signed between IDEMIA and ZWIPE, the two companies announce that first samples of the new chip have now arrived for further verification and qualification with the first power-on successfully executed. Therefore, the new platform will now progress to the next stages of developments and will be able to meet expected demand from card issuers with a first launch on the market as from second half 2020 followed by a mass production of biometric cards during 2021. IDEMIA and IDEX have signed an agreement by which IDEX will supply the card’s sensors for this next generation of biometric payment cards. This agreement deepens a long-standing collaboration between IDEMIA and IDEX to develop biometric payment cards including an IP licensing agreement signed in Oct 20193. By teaming up with ZWIPE and IDEX to offer a disruptive biometric payment card platform that will radically reduce biometric payment card costs, IDEMIA is driving the growth of the biometric cards market and enables an accelerated path to mass volumes, which will ultimately benefit the issuers and users of cards.

Amanda Gourbault, IDEMIA Executive Vice President Financial Institutions says: “This achievement of this key milestone demonstrates that our next F.CODE generation biometric card development is being executed according to plan allowing a pilot launch second half 2020. Together with our business partners we are showcasing our best-in-class expertise in designing and manufacturing biometric-based payment cards”.

André Løvestam, CEO of ZWIPE  says: ”We are pleased to see this progress and we strongly believe that bringing forward the new platform together with IDEMIA will be a major catalyst in creating long term shareholder value and provide the technological leap needed to shape the future of the biometric payment card market and to drive commercial success for ZWIPE. The progress up until now has further strengthened our conviction that this project will meet not only the time schedule, but also the targeted unit cost reductions on biometric payment cards.”

Vince Graziani, CEO of IDEX commented: “We are proud to have been selected by IDEMIA and look forward to continue collaboration with this leader in authentication solutions, and to initiate collaboration with ZWIPE to bring biometric payment cards to the mass market. This award by one of the world’s largest card manufacturers is a validation of our off-chip product design that enables high performance at a disruptive cost point.”

###

1: see PR - https://www.idemia.com/press-release/idemia-and-zwipe-partner-offer-disruptive-biometric-payments-card-platform-2019-09-19

2: manufacturers of payment cards, wearables and other payment solutions, and their suppliers.

3: see PR https://www.idemia.com/press-release/idemia-enters-patent-license-agreement-card-enrollment-solutions-idex-order-expand-its-leadership-field-biometric-cards-2019-10-03

OSLO, NORWAY – 25 March 2020 – Biometric technology company Zwipe is pleased to announce that it has been selected by Masria Digital Payments (MDP), one of the largest smart card manufacturers and digital payments providers in the Middle East and Africa to deliver biometric payments solutions to enhance MDP’s innovation product portfolio.

Zwipe will support MDP in integrating and rolling out biometric payment cards and eventually biometric enabled wearable devices to a region that has expressed significant interest in the technology.

“To continue MDP’s long tradition of technology leadership, we are integrating Zwipe’s current biometric payment platform now to educate the market and get prepared for Zwipe Pay ONE. We are confident that, when that becomes available, we will have banks across the region ready to take the next natural step in payment cards with us”, says Ahmed Nafie, EVP of MDP.

The Middle East and North Africa is seeing great interest in biometric payment solutions, especially biometric payment cards.

“Zwipe is thrilled to win a new strategic customer wanting to pilot our current product platform to pave the way for early deployment of our future offering, Zwipe Pay ONE.  Working together we can unlock many opportunities in a part of the world that is proving to be a first mover when it comes to biometric payments” says André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe.

 

###

About MDP

Masria Digital Payments (previously Masria Card S.A.E) is Africa's leading smart card solutions provider with a regional presence spanning 35 countries and 3 continents. Building on its vast sector experience, MDP has consistently introduced the latest technology in cards, payment security and smart applications to the Middle East and African markets. MDP also provides its partners with a complete card offering ranging from card production, personalization, issuance and fulfilment as a service or as a solution. MDP is the only end to end fully certified African payments solutions provider to offer a full card services, solutions, processing and digital payment suites to clients in the financial, government and retail sector under one roof.

 

For more information, please visit www.mdp-eg.com/

OSLO, NORWAY - 18 March 2020 - Zwipe’s CEO André Løvestam presented Zwipe at a RedEye Investor event in Sweden on 12 March 2020 where he addressed the ongoing global Covid-19 situation and its impact on the company’s operations: “To address the escalating situation regarding the Corona virus, it is important to acknowledge the global impact it is having. However, we want to stress that Zwipe carries on. We are a lean global team committed to our targets and, as we have done before, we are adapting quickly and effectively to the changing environment we operate in. Projects are ongoing, we have suspended travel, we are doing more video conferencing and ultimately continuing to do business as best we can in the face of this new adversity.”

 

The Zwipe team spans across Europe, the United States and Asia with more than 25% working permanently from home offices. The company has moved quickly to enact travel bans and new working standards enabling our staff to work from home offices as of 13 March 2020.

 

Commenting on the company and its plan to work through the current global situation, André Løvestam said “we are committed to the safety and security of our team members and their families and we are monitoring the situation closely. Some of our partners in China and Europe have been impacted, however, most of our ongoing efforts are not impeded by the current situation and we are confident that we will be able to weather the current downturn and look forward to share progress as we go forward.”

 

###

OSLO, NORWAY – 28 February 2020 – Zwipe AS today publishes its half-year financial report for 2H 2019.

The report does not contain inside information. Zwipe’s audited Annual Report 2019 was released on 26 February 2020.

###

Media Inquiries

Patrice Meilland,
,
Chief Commercial Officer
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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.

###

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:

  1. Opening of the General Meeting by the chair. Registration of meeting shareholders
  2. Election of a meeting chairperson and person to co-sign the minutes together with the chairperson
  3. Approval of the notice and the agenda
  4. Approval of capital increase directed against the chair of the Board
  5. Proposal to issue a new authorization to the Board to strengthen the Company's equity
  6. Proposal to amend the provision in the articles of association on notice period for the general meeting

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

lars.kristian@zwipe.com

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. 

###

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. 

### 

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

  • Second quarter revenues at TNOK 486 (241)
  • Second quarter result after tax at TNOK -15 842 (-20 989)
  • Result per share for the second quarter of NOK -0.62 (-1.32)
  • Cash flow from operations before financing at TNOK -14 789 (-22 554)

First Half Year

  • Total revenues for the first half year TNOK 880 (348)
  • Result after tax at TNOK -31 590 (-36 329)
  • Result per share for the first half year of NOK -1.23 (-2.28)
  • New equity TNOK 67 004 was raised in January 2020
  • Cash flow from operations before financing and facilitation at TNOK -42 016 (-33 971)
  • Cash and cash equivalents amounted to TNOK 43 168 on the day of closing, 30 June 2020

Significant events during the period

  • 28 Jan: Zwipe lists on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm, Sweden
  • 25 Mar: Masria Digital Payments selects Zwipe for biometric payments
  • 08 Apr: IDEMIA, Zwipe and IDEX achieve key milestone towards next generation biometric card platform
  • 20 Apr: Zwipe and IDEX collaborate on Zwipe Pay ONE platform
  • 22 Apr: Zwipe partners with Toppan Forms Card Technologies (TFCT) on biometric payment cards
  • 23 Apr: Zwipe nominates industry leaders as new board members
  • 28 Apr: Zwipe partners with Asia Credit Card to roll out biometric payment card products and services
  • 02 Jun: Zwipe appoints new Executive Vice President Strategy & Channels
  • 08 Jun: Zwipe steps up collaboration with TFCT, with TFCT placing an order 
  • 18 Jun: Zwipe and Watchdata partner to launch next generation contactless payments
  • 29 Jun: Zwipe and Thomas Greg and Sons do Brasil renew and extend exclusive partnership

Significant actions after the period

  • 01 Jul: Zwipe and Publicenter collaborate on biometric payment solutions
  • 28 Jul: Zwipe and Liveo Research partner to enhance biometric payment card offering
  • 18 Aug: Zwipe and Smart Technology Services ramp up collaboration to industrialize Zwipe Pay ONE
  • 20 Aug: Zwipe and Wisecard join forces to drive the mass market adoption of biometric payment card

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.

###

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

  • Second quarter revenues at TNOK 486 (241)
  • Second quarter result after tax at TNOK -15 842 (-20 989)
  • Result per share for the second quarter of NOK -0.62 (-1.32)
  • Cash flow from operations before financing at TNOK -14 789 (-22 554)

First Half Year

  • Total revenues for the first half year TNOK 880 (348)
  • Result after tax at TNOK -31 590 (-36 329)
  • Result per share for the first half year of NOK -1.23 (-2.28)
  • New equity TNOK 67 004 was raised in January 2020
  • Cash flow from operations before financing and facilitation at TNOK -42 016 (-33 971)
  • Cash and cash equivalents amounted to TNOK 43 168 on the day of closing, 30 June 2020

Significant events during the period

  • 28 Jan: Zwipe lists on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm, Sweden
  • 25 Mar: Masria Digital Payments selects Zwipe for biometric payments
  • 08 Apr: IDEMIA, Zwipe and IDEX achieve key milestone towards next generation biometric card platform
  • 20 Apr: Zwipe and IDEX collaborate on Zwipe Pay ONE platform
  • 22 Apr: Zwipe partners with Toppan Forms Card Technologies (TFCT) on biometric payment cards
  • 23 Apr: Zwipe nominates industry leaders as new board members
  • 28 Apr: Zwipe partners with Asia Credit Card to roll out biometric payment card products and services
  • 02 Jun: Zwipe appoints new Executive Vice President Strategy & Channels
  • 08 Jun: Zwipe steps up collaboration with TFCT, with TFCT placing an order 
  • 18 Jun: Zwipe and Watchdata partner to launch next generation contactless payments
  • 29 Jun: Zwipe and Thomas Greg and Sons do Brasil renew and extend exclusive partnership

Significant actions after the period

  • 01 Jul: Zwipe and Publicenter collaborate on biometric payment solutions
  • 28 Jul: Zwipe and Liveo Research partner to enhance biometric payment card offering
  • 18 Aug: Zwipe and Smart Technology Services ramp up collaboration to industrialize Zwipe Pay ONE
  • 20 Aug: Zwipe and Wisecard join forces to drive the mass market adoption of biometric payment card

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.

###

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.”

###

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

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