OSLO, NORWAY – 16 September 2022 – Zwipe, a leading biometric fintech company, is delighted to announce that Mr. Jens Hansen has started as Vice President, Head of Customer Success. Jens' focus will be to scale up and speed up the deployment of Zwipe Pay and Zwipe Access customer projects and commercial launches, ensuring excellent end-to-end deliveries to customers and partners across the value chain.
Jens joins Zwipe from his position as the Head of Commercial, Technology & Data at eBay (Italy), where he worked for over six years in different leadership positions. Prior to that he worked for over 10 years at Ericsson Mobile Platforms and ST-Ericsson leading the deployment of mobile platform products to a wide range of tier-1 mobile phone manufacturers.
“In Zwipe’s H1 2022 presentation last month I had mentioned that our top priority is now to scale up and speed up commercial launches, both on Zwipe Pay and Zwipe Access with top quality and professionalism. Jens is joining us at a crucial time when we are scaling our business and platform deployment globally. Jens’ wealth of experience in leading many customer delivery projects across various high-tech sectors will be a great asset,” says Robert Puskaric, President & CEO of Zwipe.
Jens will be a member of Zwipe’s leadership team and report to Robert.
“I am very excited to join Zwipe’s exciting mission to bring the next generation contactless experience globally- to financial institutions, fintechs and enterprises. We see a strong global demand for solutions that enable touch-less user experience and strong security. This is where biometrics play a key role. I look forward to being a part of the team at Zwipe and delivering these innovations with customer success as our main priority”, said Jens Hansen, Vice President, Head of Customer Success.
For further information please contact Robert Puskaric, President and CEO, +46 70 519 34 07 info@zwipe.com
About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries & cultures to make convenience safe & secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for both payment and physical & logical access control and ID solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence.
To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 13 September 2022 – The share capital increase of 10,000 new shares in Zwipe AS, as resolved by the board meeting of the company on 29 August 2022, has today been registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises. The new share capital is NOK 3,755,168.50, and the new number of shares and votes is 37,551,685.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 14:15 on 13 September 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 8 September 2022 – The share capital increase of 25,000 new shares in Zwipe AS, as resolved by the board meeting of the company on 27 June 2022, has today been registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises. The new share capital is NOK 3,754,168.50, and the new number of shares and votes is 37,541,685.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 07:00 on 8 September 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 25 August 2022 – Zwipe AS, a leading provider of biometric payment card solutions, is proud to announce that it has obtained the Component Conformity Statement (“CCS”) certificate from Mastercard for the Zwipe Pay platform, the most advanced and integrated biometric card solution available to all Smart Card Manufacturers (“SCMs”) in the market today.
This CCS certificate enables Zwipe’s customers, the SCMs, to leverage Zwipe’s certification results to obtain a Letter of Approval ( “LoA”) from Mastercard for their own biometric payment cards built on the Zwipe Pay platform.
Zwipe successfully passed all tests required to obtain the Mastercard CCS certificate. This certification confirms that the Zwipe Pay biometric payment card platform meets all the security, reliability, functionality, and performance standards required by Mastercard. Zwipe’s complete end-to-end biometric payment card platform is now ready for full adoption by SCMs to produce Mastercard cards.
Issuers can now work with their SCMs to develop and launch biometric payment cards based on Zwipe Pay, and leverage Mastercard’s global network to deliver Mastercard biometric payment cards throughout the world. Issuers will have the opportunity to create differentiation, accelerate customer acquisition, uplift loyalty and create new revenue streams. Consumers will benefit from more convenient, safe, and secure ways to pay.
“Having the Zwipe Pay platform certified by Mastercard is a significant milestone and major step forward for Zwipe and our customers. This development will further accelerate issuer pilots and planned launches based on Mastercard’s network. The pathway is now open for Smart Card Manufacturers and issuers all over the world to certify, produce and deploy Mastercard biometric cards based on Zwipe Pay,” said Robert Puskaric, CEO of Zwipe.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 11.15 on 25 August 2022.
About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
This CCS certificate enables Zwipe’s customers, the SCMs, to leverage Zwipe’s certification results to obtain a Letter of Approval ( “LoA”) from Mastercard for their own biometric payment cards built on the Zwipe Pay platform.
Zwipe successfully passed all tests required to obtain the Mastercard CCS certificate. This certification confirms that the Zwipe Pay biometric payment card platform meets all the security, reliability, functionality, and performance standards required by Mastercard. Zwipe’s complete end-to-end biometric payment card platform is now ready for full adoption by SCMs to produce Mastercard cards.
Issuers can now work with their SCMs to develop and launch biometric payment cards based on Zwipe Pay, and leverage Mastercard’s global network to deliver Mastercard biometric payment cards throughout the world. Issuers will have the opportunity to create differentiation, accelerate customer acquisition, uplift loyalty and create new revenue streams.
Consumers will benefit from more convenient, safe, and secure ways to pay.
“Having the Zwipe Pay platform certified by Mastercard is a significant milestone and major step forward for Zwipe and our customers. This development will further accelerate issuer pilots and planned launches based on Mastercard’s network. The pathway is now open for Smart Card Manufacturers and issuers all over the world to certify, produce and deploy Mastercard biometric cards based on Zwipe Pay,” said Robert Puskaric, CEO of Zwipe.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 11.15 on 25 August 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 24 August 2022 – KAD Group AS, a company 100% owned by the CFO of Zwipe AS, Danielle Glenn, has today acquired 12,000 shares in Zwipe AS. After this transaction, KAD Group AS holds 12,000 shares in Zwipe AS.
The shares were acquired on Euronext Growth Oslo at a price of 8.30.
Attached is a copy of the form submitted to the Norwegian FSA, Finanstilsynet, reporting the transaction as listed above.
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 12:15 on 27 June 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 23 August 2022 – Zwipe AS ("Zwipe" or "the company") today announces its results for the first half 2022.
Operational highlights
Financial highlights
Review
In H1 2022, we signed seven new issuers for Zwipe Pay, from Germany to India and across the Middle East. All of them are planning pilots with our card manufacturing partners, although we have learned that pilot preparation is taking longer than previously expected. We also expanded our global delivery capabilities and market reach by signing one major SCM and onboarding two leading personalization solution providers as go-to-market (“GTM”) partners.
Zwipe is pursuing an “execution first” approach focusing on launching announced pilots. In total, seven issuer pilots are progressing with good pace and according to issuer plans. Additional pilot launches are expected in the coming quarters, with launch dates entirely dependent on issuer decisions. We are also focused on “execution first” with our SCM customers – getting all certified and ready for mass volume production. While these remain our top priorities, Zwipe continues expanding our customer and issuer pipeline – critical to our medium-term success.
In March, Zwipe completed the certification process with Visa and obtained the Visa LoA. This certification marks a major milestone towards commercialization of Zwipe Pay and was followed by Visa LoAs obtained by lead customers BCC, TAG Systems and Inkript. This list is expected to grow significantly going forward. Zwipe has successfully completed additional testing with third party laboratories that should ease additional payment scheme certifications.
It is undeniable that market takeoff of biometric payment cards has been slower than envisioned. BPC volumes deployed are expected to remain fairly low into 2023, before growing exponentially thereafter. Zwipe is not immune to the delayed market takeoff, but our customers and partners remain committed to launching pilots and commercial propositions, even if somewhat later than originally planned. Furthermore, consumer demand for BPCs remains strong with 82% of individuals surveyed by Zwipe saying that they want their next card to be biometric and 60% saying they would consider switching to banks who offer biometric cards. Importantly, most third-party research continues to point to BPCs accounting for 15-20% of total EMV units shipped by 2030 (estimated at 3-4 billion units), highlighting just how large the market potential remains.
For Zwipe Access, we now have a healthy and growing list of opportunities within the data center and airport verticals as well as other security sensitive customer segments. The growing number of requests for Zwipe Access solutions is driven by increasing demand for stronger data privacy, higher security and better user experience. Indeed, Zwipe was recognized by Fraport, operating 31 international airports globally, as a potential provider for next generation security solutions at their airports. Fraport’s initial trials have now been completed and they are evaluating possible next steps.
There were substantial changes in the executive management team at Zwipe during the first half, with three of the six-member C-suite newly joining the company – strengthening leadership, bringing industry expertise and positioning Zwipe well for the future.
Financial review
Zwipe reported total revenues of 0.8 mNOK during H1 2022 versus 1.4 mNOK in H1 2021. On an adjusted basis, total operating expenses increased by 13.3 mNOK to 48.4 mNOK in H1 2022 versus H1 2021. The majority of this increase was due to personnel expenses, which increased by 9.1 mNOK to 25.9 mNOK in H1 2022 versus H1 2021. Of the 9.1 mNOK, 5.5 mNOK were one-off costs related to former executives leaving the company. The remaining increase in personnel expense is largely due to an increase in headcount by 13 people to meet the strong demand for the company’s solutions and to prepare for piloting and deployment of our card payment solutions and services.
Zwipe’s cash position remains strong, with cash and cash equivalents at 109.7 mNOK on 30 June 2022.
Total equity as of 30 June 2022 was 108.8 mNOK resulting in an equity ratio of 89%, roughly stable versus the position at the end of the first half of 2021.
The way forward
Zwipe is progressing well in many important areas even if the market for biometric payment cards is developing at a slower pace than expected. Operating expenses and headcount are not expected to increase substantially in H2 vs H1 2022 nor at the pace expected at the start of the year. Zwipe will, however, continue to invest intelligently – particularly in its people and technology.
For Zwipe Pay, second half priorities will center on pilot deployment with issuers, assisting SCMs in becoming mass production and delivery ready, and continuing to expand our customer and issuer pipeline. Further developing the dedicated customer project management function and standardized blueprint to improve pilot execution will be a key focus during H2 2022.
Going forward, Zwipe Access is expected to contribute a larger part of revenue than previously assumed. The pipeline for Zwipe Access is healthy and growing with prospects within the data center and airport verticals as well as other security sensitive customer segments.
Results presentation
CEO Robert Puskaric and CFO Danielle Glenn will present the H1 2022 results by webcast tomorrow, Wednesday August 24th, at 09:00 CEST.
Webcast details
Format: Webcast, Conference Call and Q&A
Language: English
Link: https://q4-emea.wavecast.io/zwipe-as/h1-2022-operational-update
Dial-in numbers:
Participants will be required to register to view the webcast and participate in the Q&A
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This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 12:15 on 27 June 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
Webcast details
Date: 24 August 2022
Time: 09:00 CEST
Format: Webcast, Conference Call and Q&A
Language: English
Link: https://q4-emea.wavecast.io/zwipe-as/h1-2022-operational-update
Participants will be required to register to view the webcast and participate in the Q&A
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 12:15 on 27 June 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 27 June 2022 – The board of directors of Zwipe AS ("Zwipe" or the "Company") has today resolved an increase in the share capital of the Company in the amount of NOK 2,500 through the issuance of 25,000 new shares in the Company, each at a strike price of NOK 10.00. The new shares were issued under the Company's stock option incentive program.
Primary insider Eric Mercer, COO of Zwipe AS, exercised 20,000 stock options. After completion of the transaction, Eric Mercer will hold 25,500 shares and 200,000 stock options in the Company. The remaining 5,000 stock options were exercised by an employee of the Company not being a primary insider.
All the exercised options have been granted in accordance with the Company's stock option incentive program described in the Company's latest annual financial statement.
Attached is a copy of the form submitted to the Norwegian FSA, Finanstilsynet, reporting the primary insider transaction listed above.
This information is subject to the disclosure requirements in Regulation EU 596/2014 article 19 number 3 and the Norwegian Securities Trading Act section 5-12, and is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo (Euronext Growth Oslo Rule Book – Part II) 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 12:15 CEST on 27 June 2022.
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About Zwipe
Zwipe believes the inherent uniqueness of every person is the key to a safer future. We work with great passion across networks of international organizations, industries and cultures to make convenience safe and secure. We are pioneering next-generation biometric card and wearables technology for payment and physical & logical access control and identification solutions. We promise our customers and partners deep insight and frictionless solutions, ensuring a seamless user experience with our innovative biometric products and services. Zwipe is headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence. To learn more, visit http://www.zwipe.com.
For more information, please contact:
Danielle Glenn, CFO and Head of IR
+47 909 98 201
danielle@zwipe.com
The Board of Directors of Zwipe AS, org. nr 994 553 607, has on November 10, 2019, subject to the approval by an Extraordinary General Meeting, decided to carry out a preferential rights issue of up to MNOK 74 by issuing up to 10 635 525 shares, implying an increase of the Company’s share capital of up to NOK 1 063 553.
90 percent of the Rights Issue, amounting to MNOK 67, is already covered through subscription commitments and underwriting commitments from current shareholders and new investors.
Background and purpose
During 2019 Zwipe has made significant technological, commercial and organizational progress. Most notably, Zwipe entered a strategic collaboration with Idemia on a disruptive technology platform for biometric payments. Furthermore, Zwipe successfully completed the prototyping of its in-house Z5 energy harvesting and power management chip, extended its network of card manufacturer clients, delivered according to its first received order for its second generation inlay technology, and was engaged by G+D Mobile Security to provide product design and prototyping for a wearable biometric payment device to be piloted by a leading bank.
The preferential rights issue is carried out in order to secure working capital toward commercialization and scale-up of Zwipe’s technology platform. The commercialization efforts will be accompanied by a targeted program to focus and streamline the company’s resources.
CEO André Løvestam commented “This rights issue is planned to extend Zwipe’s financial runway all the way to scale-up of biometric cards, and I am pleased that we have achieved a 90% guaranteed subscription. We now see a clear path toward finalizing and commercializing our technology, with the required capital resources to get to that point.
Zwipe is streamlining its product roadmap and pursuing cost saving opportunities that will reduce the current burn-rate. This has been made possible on the back of the strategic collaboration with Idemia, the global leader in Augmented Identity and one of the world’s largest payment card manufacturers, on a disruptive technology platform that we together with our partner Idemia believe is a game changer and a catalyst for growth in the industry. The new platform will integrate and simplify component design, drastically reducing costs of the product itself and the manufacturing process. As a result, a complete biometric payment card cost of below USD 10 is becoming realistic, providing an accelerated path to mass volumes while giving Zwipe a long-term cost leadership position.”
Summary of Rights Issue
The subscription price is NOK 7.00 per share. The Company’s shareholders have preferential rights to subscribe to the new shares in relation to the number of shares currently held. For each recorded share the shareholder obtains one (1) subscription right. Three (3) subscription rights entitle to subscription of two (2) newly issued shares.
The Record Date for participation in the Rights Issue is planned for December 4, 2019. The subscription period is expected to run from December 5 up to and including December 19, 2019. The Board of Directors shall have the right to extend the subscription period if deemed beneficial. In the event that not all shares have been subscribed for in the Rights Issue, the Board of Directors, within the maximum scope of the Rights Issue, resolve on the allocation of shares subscribed for without subscription rights.
The Company has obtained subscription commitments and undertaking commitments from a number of current shareholders and external investors. The subscription commitments from existing shareholders, and external investors who will receive subscription rights from major shareholders who cannot participate, amount to 16.1 percent of the Rights Issue. Underwriting commitments amount to an additional 73.9 percent of the Rights Issue. In total, the subscription commitments and underwriting commitments from current shareholders and new investors amount to MNOK 67.0, corresponding to 90.0 percent of the Rights Issue.
Timetable for the Rights Issue
The below timetable for the Rights Issue is preliminary and may be adjusted:
Prospectus
Complete information regarding the Rights Issue and information about the Company will be included in the prospectus that is expected to be published on or about December 4, 2019.
Extraordinary General Meeting
To obtain approval to carry out the Rights Issue, the Board of Directors has decided to call for an extraordinary general meeting. The extraordinary general meeting is to be held on December 2, 2019 at 11:30 at the office of Simonsen Vogt Wiig Advokatfirma, Filipstad Brygge 1, Oslo. The notice of the meeting will be published today through a separate press release.
For further information please contact:
André Løvestam, CEO: andre@zwipe.com +47 93 43 69 52
Lars Myren, Interim CFO: lars@zwipe.com +47 90 94 36 60
Advisors
In connection with the Rights Issue, Zwipe has appointed Erik Penser Bank AB (publ) as book runner, and Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS as legal advisor.
For more information, please visit www.zwipe.com
Important information
The information in this press release does not constitute an offer to sell, acquire, subscribe for or otherwise trade in shares or other securities issued by Zwipe AS. No offer will be made in any jurisdiction in which such offer or solicitation is unlawful or where this would require registration, publication of a prospectus or similar action. Invitation to interested parties to subscribe for shares in Zwipe AS will only be made through the prospectus that Zwipe AS will publish.
There will be no public offer of shares in the United States. The new shares have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “U.S. Securities Act”), or under the securities law of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States and may not be reoffered, resold, pledged or otherwise transferred, directly or indirectly, except (a) outside the United States in accordance with Rule 903 or Rule 904 of Regulation S, as applicable or (b) pursuant to Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act by executing and delivering a separate U.S. investor representation letter to the manager. A person in the United States or who is a “U.S. Person” (within the meaning of Regulation S under the U.S. Securities Act), may not apply for Offer Shares or otherwise take steps in order to subscribe for or purchase Offer Shares unless the subscriber has confirmed to the manager that it is a "qualified institutional buyer" ("QIB") as defined in Rule 144A under the U.S. Securities Act, acquiring the Offer Shares for investments purposes for its own account or for one or more accounts of another/other QIB(s), where it has investment discretion over such accounts in a transaction exempt from the registration requirements under the U.S. Securities Act by executing and delivering a U.S. investor representation letter to the manager. The Offer Shares are “restricted securities” within the meaning of Rule 144(a)(3) under the U.S. Securities Act and may not be deposited into any unrestricted depositary receipt facility in the United States, unless at the time of deposit the Offer Shares are no longer "restricted securities".
The information in this press release may not be released, published, reproduced or distributed in or to the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Singapore, South Africa or New Zealand or any other country or jurisdiction where such action is not permitted or where such action is subject to legal restrictions or would require further registration or other measures than what is required by Norwegian and / or Swedish law. Measures contrary to this instruction may constitute a breach of applicable securities legislation.
OSLO, NORWAY – 6 November 2019
Q3 2019 highlights and recent developments
During the third quarter Zwipe focused on extending its technology portfolio and network of partners covering the biometric payment card and wearables value chain:
Status update from the CEO
André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said ”Q3 2019 exceeded our expectations and we are happy with the major milestones we have completed over the last months. The announced collaboration with Idemia on a disruptive technology platform for biometric payments represents a defining moment for Zwipe. The new biometric payments platform will drastically reduce product and manufacturing costs by integrating into a single chip the functions that previously required a Secure Element, a Microcontroller, and more than thirty external components. This enables Zwipe to take a strong cost leadership position and gain competitive advantage as the industry moves towards large-scale volumes.
In parallel, we are forging ahead with our internal research and development activities and have expanded our intellectual property (IP) portfolio. In the period, our in-house IP development has progressed well. Zwipe now has 31 granted patents across 10 patent families in its IP portfolio, representing significant licensing revenue potential for the company going forward. Immediately after the closing of Q3, we announced the successful completion of a two-year development project: a working prototype of our Z5 chip which we plan to commercialize to stakeholders across the payments ecosystem, both as a stand-alone chip and as part of our biometric payment platform, the biometric inlay.
We have complemented our products with services. At the end of the quarter, Zwipe introduced the “Zwipe Experience” to its customers – a comprehensive program of products and services, enabling the card manufacturers to prepare for all aspects of launching biometric payment cards.
With product development taking positive strides, we have also continued expanding our network of customers. In Q3 we added Thailand-based card manufacturer dz card to our already substantial global customer network. Dz card plans to launch biometric payment solutions to address the emerging needs of customers in Thailand and across Southeast Asia, a region poised to see exponential growth in payment card adoption over the coming years.
Beyond dual-interface payment cards, we are pursuing complementary payment solutions where our technology represents a competitive advantage for our customers. During the quarter, we announced that we had been engaged by G+D Mobile Security, one of the world’s largest players within security solutions, to provide product design and prototyping for a wearable biometric payment device to be piloted by a leading bank.
With good momentum in these two emerging product verticals, we are confident that our focus on building relationships with our customers will play a major role in securing both short- and long-term success for the company. The new relationships diversify our customer base and extend our geographical presence, securing ties with regional leading card manufacturers and banks. Industry leaders in the biometric payment industry such as Idemia and G&D are firming up their roles, setting up commercial structures and investing in trial and production capacity. The fact that they select Zwipe as a key partner for their endeavours is a testament to our strong role in the value-chain.
It is exciting for us to see that our future potential is materializing in near-term commercial opportunities. Our initial sales of biometric card inlays, and customer-funded engineering efforts are opening doors for greater opportunities going forward. I am delighted to see that the steps we have taken are starting to bear fruit.”
Financials and Significant Events During Third Quarter 2019
Financial Status
During the third quarter Zwipe had revenues of MNOK 1.0 (0.9) representing sale of products for trial purposes as well as NRE invoiced to certain customers for specific developments. Accumulated revenues for the year amount to MNOK 1.3 (1.6).
Average monthly cash flow during Q3 2019 was MNOK -7.6 (-5.6), compared to MNOK -8.9 in the first half of 2019. The closing cash balance at end of Q3 was MNOK 51.0.
Subsequent event: Completed prototype Zwipe Z5 chip
After closing of the third quarter, Zwipe announced the successful prototype completion and power-on of its in-house developed “Z5” energy harvesting and power management integrated circuit (ASIC). The proprietary new chip is a significant milestone in component consolidation, cost reduction and efficiency improvement for Zwipe. Commercial samples are planned to be ready by mid-2020, by which time mass production can start. The Z5 chip will precede and subsequently complement the emerging biometric payment technology platform announced with Idemia.
OSLO, NORWAY – 14 OCTOBER 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe is pleased to announce the prototype manufacturing and successful power-on of its Z5 chip, an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) developed by Zwipe and supported by proprietary energy harvesting IP.
The Zwipe Z5 consolidates components required for contactless energy harvesting and power management in one chip, reducing cost and improving the power efficiency and the manufacturability of embedded biometric solutions. This proprietary embedded chip will be a key commercial element for Zwipe’s biometric products for payment and beyond.
Commenting on this important breakthrough, André Løvestam CEO of Zwipe said, “this is an important milestone for the company, and a key part of Zwipe’s Generation NxT initiative focusing on cost reduction and supply-chain readiness to improve our competitiveness and facilitate our go-to-market and scale-up capacity. Over the coming months, Zwipe will complete verification and qualification. Commercial samples are planned for release mid-2020, at that stage mass production can start.”
The Zwipe Z5 chip will be sold as a single component and as part of Zwipe’s embedded system, the biometric inlay. Target customers are smart card and wearables manufacturers as well as original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in the emerging biometric payment market and in other verticals.
The development of this component is partially funded through a EUR 2.3 million (NOK 23 million) grant from the European Commission as part of Horizon 2020.
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OSLO, NORWAY– 27 SEPTEMBER 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe has today delivered the first order of its second-generation biometric inlay to one of its card manufacturing customers. The order was for a few thousand units and generates revenue of approximately half a million NOK in the third quarter 2019.
“Zwipe’s biometric payment platform is the most widely live-tested solution in the marketplace and it has been progressively updated in terms of performance and cost. We are now starting to provide our second-generation biometric platform and inlay technology to our customers. We are supporting our customers toward achieving a mass-marketable roll-out of their biometric payment cards” says André Løvestam, CEO at Zwipe.
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Courbevoie, FRANCE and Oslo, NORWAY – 19 September 2019 – IDEMIA, the global leader in Augmented Identity and one of the world’s largest biometric payment card manufacturers, and Zwipe, a leading biometric technology company, have signed an exclusive partnership and distribution agreement that sees the two companies co-investing in the development of a disruptive biometric payment card platform. The companies’ shared vision is to enable mass volume market take-off and long-term growth for biometric payment cards, by bringing to market a technology platform that will significantly reduce the complexity and cost of the design and production process for biometric payment cards, enabling an accelerated path to mass volumes which will ultimately benefit the issuers and users of cards.
This result is achieved by drastically reducing the number of components, integrating in a single chip the functions that previously required a Secure Element, a Microcontroller, and more than thirty external components, all mounted on a flexible PCB (Printed Circuit Board). Cards incorporating this new technology will be in the market in H2 2020, with high volume deployment starting in 2021.
Speaking on the agreement, Amanda Gourbault, Executive Vice-President for Financial institutions activities at IDEMIA, declared: “this is a strategic, high profile project for IDEMIA. We are very excited about what this platform will enable in terms of market growth and the penetration of biometric payment cards. IDEMIA is delighted to partner with Zwipe, a company with a solid intellectual property portfolio and an expanding global customer network; we are confident that our new solution will command a leading position in the marketplace.”
Zwipe will have worldwide exclusive rights to provide this solution to manufacturers of payment cards, wearables and other payment solutions, and their suppliers, when the product becomes available. IDEMIA has ownership of this technology and will sell F.CODE to its Financial Institutions customers. Once again, by bringing the best of its technology and vision, IDEMIA is driving the growth of the biometric cards market.
Commenting on this major development, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “we are excited and proud to enter a significant partnership with IDEMIA, a prominent global industry leader. The platform represents a technological leap that will serve as a catalyst to enable full biometric payment card costs to come down significantly, driving mass volume market growth and complementing our current and future product portfolios. We look forward to bringing this platform to our customers to continue to shape the biometric payments industry.”
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OSLO, NORWAY– 17 SEPTEMBER 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe has been selected by Giesecke + Devrient (G+D) Mobile Security, one of the world’s largest mobile and digital security providers to develop a biometric payment device with a view to pilot this technology with leading banks.
Speaking on the partnership with Zwipe, Gabrielle Bugat, Group Senior Vice President and Head of Business Unit Financial Services at G+D Mobile Security, said “We have selected Zwipe because of their proven ability to integrate biometrics with payment functionalities into an extremely space and energy-constrained environment,” adding “we are confident that this joint effort will help establish new opportunities in the emerging biometric payments marketplace.”
Zwipe will provide the technical design and core components for integration into a wearable device with the digital security provider integrating the payment platform and personalising the product for use as a payment solution.
Commenting on this commercial effort, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “Our new customer, G+D is one of the world’s largest players in security solutions and we are excited to launch this collaboration.”
The joint development is commencing now, and the two parties plan to announce the start of any pilot when the product is ready for trials.
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BANGKOK, THAILAND – 11 SEPTEMBER 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and dz card a global card solution provider and one of the largest card manufacturers in Southeast Asia, have signed a partnership to launch biometric payment solutions addressing the emerging needs of customers in Thailand and across Southeast Asia, as well as India and Africa.
Speaking on the engagement, Mr. Renaud ADAM – CEO of dz card said, “we have received requests from several large issuers seeking biometric payment cards and we are excited to partner with Zwipe, who is uniquely positioned to support our customers in introducing, optimizing and scaling up the issuance of this innovative product which makes contactless payment so much more secure.”
dz card will look to integrate Zwipe’s technology platform in bringing their biometric payment cards and other associated solutions to market, featuring Zwipe’s proprietary biometric payment platform and secure at-home enrolment offering.
Commenting on this latest customer acquisition André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said, “we are honored that dz card decided to join our growing customer base and we are confident that our unique and dedicated approach to support them in launching biometric payment cards will be a win for their customers, some of the largest financial institutions in Southeast Asia.”
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OSLO, NORWAY – 3 September 2019- Biometric technology company Zwipe will explore a potential listing on Nasdaq Stockholm's First North Growth Market. The timing of such a listing remains to be evaluated.
Commenting on this development, CEO of Zwipe André Løvestam said “the past several months has seen major stakeholders in the emerging biometric payment market invest in preparations for commercialization of biometric payment cards and accompanying offerings. This vote of confidence and positive outlook has enabled several new strategic opportunities for Zwipe that are currently being pursued. On this basis, the Board of Directors has concluded an intent to list on Nasdaq Stockholm's First North Growth Market”, adding “listing on Nasdaq First North Growth Market will take the company closer to the majority of its investors and open up a larger and more dynamic trading market for its shares.”
Please see Zwipe’s Interim Report January to June 2019 on the company’s website, www.zwipe.com for more information about the company’s status and outlook.
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Oslo, Norway - 3 September 2019
Biometric technology company Zwipe today announces its Interim Report January to June 2019:
First Half Year
Significant events during the period
Significant events after the period
CEO comment
André Løvestam, Chief Executive Officer at Zwipe, said “Zwipe had significant progress during the first half of 2019. During the period we added five new card manufacturing customers across the world, significantly broadening our customer base. At the same time, multiple pilots with existing customers, banks and payment networks, have provided strong results and given us unique insights as we progress towards commercial adoption of our offerings.
Over the course of this summer, accredited third-party labs used for validation by the major payment networks have confirmed that Zwipe’s platform is comfortably surpassing the biometric performance, security and interoperability requirements for certification to be awarded to card manufacturers.
During the first half of 2019 multiple card manufacturers have started the capital-intensive process of launching biometric payment card specific manufacturing lines, semiconductor providers have begun the development of dedicated offerings for this emerging market, and the entire value chain supporting these processes has started moving more aggressively.
This vote of confidence of the future prospects in biometric payment cards and wearables has opened up several new strategic opportunities for Zwipe; opportunities that we are now pursuing at full speed.
Based on this confirmation of Zwipe’s value proposition and long-term prospects, the Board of Directors has concluded an intent to list on Nasdaq Stockholm's First North Growth Market, thereby further accelerating and supporting the company's development.
I am confident that Zwipe is well positioned to unlock the exciting opportunities coming our way and I am looking forward to the next phase of our journey.”
Please find the full report attached or on the company’s website www.zwipe.com.
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