OSLO, NORWAY, BAGHDAD, IRAQ and BEIRUT, LEBANON – 17 MARCH 2022 – Zwipe, Al Mansour Bank and areeba have confirmed that they will pilot Biometric Payment Cards built on the Zwipe Pay platform in Iraq. This will be one of the earliest pilots of next generation contactless payment cards in the country.
Al Mansour Bank is a private bank with Qatar National Bank (QNB) as its majority owner. The bank was established in 2005 and today it has more than 10 branches across Iraq. The bank is always seeking innovative products to introduce to the Iraqi market.
Speaking on this development, Mr. Roger Abboud, Head of Retail, AI Mansour Bank said, “Post pandemic, we have seen strong demand for PIN-free and touch-less payment solutions as they are safer and much more secure. We are delighted to partner with Zwipe, a leading provider of biometric payment technologies and areeba, a respected leader in innovative payment services. Biometric Payment Cards will uplift our payment portfolio and enable us to deliver excellent service quality to our customers. We are now working with both partners to launch pilots in the coming months.”
Mr. Issam Adra, General Manager of areeba Iraq said: “We are excited to be part of Al Mansour Bank’s biometric payment cards initiative and confident to deliver a world-class experience and security to the bank’s customers. areeba has for a long-time pioneered payment innovations that uplift customer loyalty, create unique differentiation and strong business cases for banks. Biometric payment cards will be instrumental in continuing this effort.”
Ramzi Saboury, General Manager of Zwipe in the MENA Region added, “The banking sector in Iraq is demonstrating a great appetite for innovation. We are thrilled with our collaboration with Al Mansour Bank on biometric payment cards together with areeba, one of our key partners in the region.”
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 93 43 69 52 info@zwipe.com
About Al Mansour Bank
Al Mansour Bank is a private bank with Qatar National Bank (QNB) as its majority owner. The bank was established in 2005 and today it has more than 10 branches across Iraq. The bank is always seeking innovative products to introduce to the Iraqi market.
For more information, visit www.mbi.iq
About areeba
areeba is an electronic payment technology company licensed by Visa and MasterCard and has an agreement with American Express & Discover. Established in 2017, areeba adopts the latest technologies and provides solutions and payment services to banks, governments and merchants to suit their aspirations and needs.
areeba offers services tailored to global requirements, from card issuance and management, non-contact payment solutions, contactless and mobile payment. It also provides merchants and governments with the latest e-commerce platform and point-of-sale machines that adopt the highest standards and safety systems. areeba operates a wide range of loyalty programs, including collecting points and miles, cashback programs, and providing consultancy services for the planning, design and development of electronic products and payment solutions.
For more information, visit www.areeba.com, or @areebalebanon on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram.
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 and TRIPOLI, LIBYA – 8th MARCH 2022 – Zwipe and Mediterranean Bank are pleased to confirm that they will pilot Biometric Payment Cards built on the Zwipe Pay platform, making it the first pilot of biometric payment cards in Libya.
Mediterranean Bank is a medium-sized bank in Libya, focusing on corporates, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs, with branches in all major Libyan cities like Benghazi, Tripoli and others. The bank is keen to pilot Zwipe’s disruptive “single silicon” biometric payment card platform and assess its impact on making payment experience seamless and more secure for consumers. Libya is a key emerging market in Africa that is seeking innovation in its payment ecosystem with the objective to minimize fraud, corruption and uplift user experience.
Speaking on this development, Mr. Ahmed Nafo, Chief Information Officer at Mediterranean Bank said, “We are very pleased to partner with Zwipe, a leading technology brand in biometric payment cards. We are especially proud to be the first bank in Libya to introduce this world-class innovation. We want to ensure that our customers are extremely well protected when using payment cards and enjoy a great user experience. Our collaboration with Zwipe is well timed and strongly complements our vision to be a customer centric bank. We are looking forward to launching the pilot in Q2 2022 as a step to deployment of the cards later in the year.”
As part of this collaboration, Zwipe will train key stakeholders in the bank on all aspects of issuing and managing biometric payment cards. These cards will be delivered by one of the Zwipe certified smart card manufacturers in the region.
Ramzi Saboury, General Manager of Zwipe in the MENA Region said, “We are excited to enter the Libyan market with Mediterranean Bank and help them to pilot their next generation payment cards. In close collaboration with our regional partners, we will be supporting the bank through all the stages of the pilot and launch, ensuring the best experience for the bank’s consumers.”
For further information please contact:
André Løvestam, CEO, +47 93 43 69 52 info@zwipe.com
About Mediterranean Bank
Mediterranean Bank is a medium-sized bank in Libya, focusing on corporates, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurs, with branches in all major Libyan cities like Benghazi, Tripoli and others.
For more info contact the bank at info@meditbank.ly, Tel: +218 61 9082167
or visit www.meditbank.ly
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 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 www.zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY and MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA – 2 March 2022 – Placard, Australia’s largest card manufacturer and the only one qualified by all major card schemes, has selected biometric fintech pioneer Zwipe as its technology partner in pursuing the global market opportunities for biometric payment cards and other security products.
Placard delivers more than 100 million cards each year for the most established brands in the financial, retail, identification, government, loyalty and hospitality sectors. Placard’s success over the past two decades is accredited to high-quality products and a deep understanding of how new technology and product innovations can benefit customers and societies at large. With the disruptive Zwipe Pay platform, Placard will be able to deliver highly advanced and secure biometric card products that are also exceedingly user-friendly.
“We are excited about the opportunity that this innovative technology represents. The biometric solution provided by Zwipe combines break-through technologies and is the ideal platform for the next generation of payment cards. We believe that highly secure touch-less payments and PIN-free cards create a very compelling proposition for consumers and that our collaboration with Zwipe will provide differentiation and meaningful commercial value to our customers”, said Tess Barone, General Manager Sales & Marketing, Placard.
As part of this agreement, Zwipe will provide biometric technology, technical services and go-to-market commercialization support to enable Placard to manufacture biometric cards. The partners will engage with issuers and other enterprises to run pilots from Q2 2022, followed by full commercial rollouts.
Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO at Zwipe, said: “We are very pleased to announce our partnership with Placard, one of the most prominent card manufacturers in the Australasian region. There is a clear growing interest in biometric payment cards globally and Placard will be vital in accelerating the deployment of biometric payment cards to banks and consumers. Zwipe will be supporting Placard’s clients during their launch processes to ensure the best customer experience and successful commercialization.”
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About Placard
Placard is an Australian organization which has been established since 1987, and is Australia’s largest secure plastic card manufacturer. Placard is continuously expanding, providing comprehensive card programs to over 500 clients and producing upwards of 100 million cards per year. Placard provides end to end card solutions and has a reputation of meeting its commitments to its clients and consistently achieves service levels beyond its clients’ expectations.
Placard’s secure manufacturing and bureau facilities are Visa, MasterCard, China Union Pay and American Express accredited to the highest level.
Placard’s core competencies lie in the design, printing, manufacture, personalization and mailing of ISO Standard secure and non-secure plastic cards. With Bureau services encompassing the latest Visa and MasterCard EMV standards for embossing, manufacture of Dual Interface cards, magnetic stripe encoding, indent printing, thermal print duable flat graphics, high quality Drop on Demand personalization, laser printing processes and intelligent matching & mailing services.
For more information, please visit www.placard.com.au or call Tess Barone, General Manager, Sales & Marketing on +61 3 9722 5200.
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 zwipe.com
For further information please contact:
André Løvestam, CEO, +47 934 36 952, info@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY and DOHA, QATAR – 28 FEBRUARY 2022 - Zwipe has partnered with Qatar Fintech Hub to bring Zwipe Pay enabled next generation biometric payment cards in the market. With this technology, the partners will deliver the highest level of security and safety with world-class user experience in making in-store payments.
Founded by Qatar Development Bank (QDB), Qatar FinTech Hub supports the growth of the fintech industry in Qatar in collaboration with leading players in FinTech ecosystem in Qatar and tie ups with major FinTech hubs including the UK, Turkey, Australia and Singapore. There is a big focus on partnering with technology pioneers who will make a difference in the payments space and bring it to a new level of experience.
Ibrahim Abdulaziz Al Mannai, Executive Director – Advisory, Qatar Development Bank, said: “I am very happy to announce the collaboration with Zwipe and welcome them as a valued member at the Qatar Fintech Hub. Zwipe is one of the leading technology brands for biometric payment solutions. Our innovation programs have witnessed tremendous success since their launch, and we are extremely happy to incorporate biometrics now. This collaboration with greatly enrich our technology competency and help Qatar to become a regional hub of fintech solutions, catering to the needs of the global market.”
As part of this collaboration, both parties will join forces to drive education, awareness building and engagement on biometric payment solutions in Qatar enabling issuers to pilot and launch next generation payment experience.
Speaking on this collaboration, General Manager for Zwipe in the MENA region, Ramzi Saboury said, “We are honored to be partnering with Qatar Fintech Hub as we believe this collaboration will further accelerate the adoption of Zwipe Pay enabled biometric payment cards among fintechs, issuers, processors and consumers. Qatar is a core market for us in the MENA region and we are already engaging with issuers in the country to pilot Zwipe Pay and be amongst the first in MENA to deploy the next Gen biometric cards.”
About QFTH
Launched by Qatar Development Bank (QDB) in May 2018, with the support of Qatar Central Bank (QCB), Qatar FinTech Hub (QFTH) is part of QDB’s FinTech vision and ambitions.
QFTH is a global FinTech hub with the purpose to support the development of the FinTech industry in Qatar. It aims to facilitate collaboration among the participants and stakeholders of the FinTech ecosystem and develop local and global relationships that will advance the bank’s FinTech vision.
QFTH brings together talented entrepreneurs, investors, and enablers to develop disruptive technologies so that great visions become reality.
QFTH offers a globally interconnected cluster, which gathers a vibrant community of FinTech entrepreneurs, industry experts, regulators, and investors.
To offer the best global opportunities, expertise, and develop a collaborative FinTech ecosystem, QFTH has tied up with global FinTech hubs, financial institutions, universities, technology partners, industry experts and others.
QFTH holds considerable opportunities for economic diversification, one of the four pillars of the Qatar National Vision 2030 that seeks to “transform Qatar into an advanced society capable of achieving sustainable development” by 2030.
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 934 36 952, info@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 23 February 2022 – Zwipe AS today publishes its annual report 2021.
Highlights for 2021 include:
Financials
Significant events 2021
Significant events after the period
CEO comments
"2021 was a transformative year for Zwipe, preparing the ground for commercial success in 2022.
Our technology platform was upgraded to a cutting-edge, third-generation single silicon platform that provides best-in-class biometric performance at highly competitive cost levels. We prepared for submission of reference cards based on Zwipe Pay components to accredited laboratories for certification by both Visa and Mastercard. The submission has been made and, together with our biometric card manufacturing partners, the certification tests are proceeding according to plan. Based on this, and the core components in our Zwipe Pay platform being validated through Idemia’s certifications obtained in November 2021, we are confident we are closing in on certification as planned.
During 2021 we have also continued to build commercial momentum. We announced engagements with nine new smart card manufacturers and card personalization bureaus during the year, representing an annual volume above 250m payment cards. We also extended and expanded our partnership with TAG Systems, which delivers an additional 100+ million payment cards per annum. Each new partner and customer in our ecosystem contribute to increasing the value creation potential and reducing the risk for Zwipe and its stakeholders.
A great milestone for Zwipe in 2021 was the receipt of commercial orders from BCC, Inkript, and yet another card manufacturing customer for complete Zwipe Pay deliveries worth more than NOK 20m, to be delivered primarily in 2022.
As a complement to our "push" approach, targeting smart card manufacturers as our direct customers, we continued to broaden our go-to-market strategy with the "pull" approach. That means we are marketing the benefits of biometric cards to partners and indirect clients, such as financial institutions – our customers’ customers. This move has allowed us to accelerate awareness, create strong demand for our biometric payment option, take more control of our destiny, and significantly strengthen our strategic position and brand equity.
The results of these efforts started coming to fruition in 2021, when Zwipe announced commitments for 14 pilots with 11 new issuers, including a global Tier-1 bank that will pilot Zwipe Pay in three European markets. We also entered go-to-market and implementation partnerships with many payment processors and, most recently, a major US company that is one of the world’s largest payment services providers. Such partners enable us to leverage their long-term, trust-based relationships with hundreds of banks worldwide to further accelerate the deployment of biometric payment cards built on our platform. I often refer to this as “the Megaphone Effect”, which is fundamental to our pull strategy.
We have upgraded our sales-enabling services and tools to support these processes and our customers. For example, this has resulted in the launch of new services such as "Zwipe Experience" (pilot and launch program services) and Zwipe Insights (consumer research to gauge demand for biometric payments), to name a few. The ROI calculator for issuers, created together with industry experts, is another example. It demonstrated that, even without an additional card fee from consumers, Zwipe Pay could deliver a $22.4m annual net benefit for an average US issuer converting a portfolio of 1 million credit cards, 1 million debit cards, and 100,000 commercial cards to biometric cards.
As part of our end-to-end offering, ranging from leading technology to professional sales enablement, these kinds of services and initiatives make Zwipe stand out from the crowd, adding considerable value to customers.
In addition, Zwipe announced its first entry into adjacent sectors, starting with the launch of “Zwipe Access”, building on years of investments into our advanced biometric authentication technology platform designed to fulfil the highest criteria for security, scalability, and mass-volume implementation. At the same time, we announced collaborations with several leading companies in the security industry; notably HID Global, LeGrand, and Southco. This coalition will bring a highly advanced, cost-effective biometric authentication solution to market, fully capable of working with existing access control infrastructure.
We also raised NOK 104 million in a private placement directed towards one of the Nordic’s most respected investors, Erik Selin. This means that our shareholder base and finances have been significantly strengthened in 2021.
Adding to our confidence in our future outlook is the consistent evidence from numerous consumer surveys covering more than 2,500 cardholders from diverse markets around the world that cardholders want the touch-less and PIN-free experience with world-class security that is made possible by biometric payment cards. 56% said they were willing to pay to get a biometric card and 57% said they were willing to switch banks to get a biometric card. These findings, which are consistent with survey findings of industry peers and other analyst reports, suggest that launches of biometric cards will offer valuable differentiation to first-moving banks and trigger competitive reactions from others.
Like most other companies engaged in multinational development projects, Zwipe has, as mentioned before, been impacted by COVID-19 through added complexity and extended lead times. However, I have been impressed by the grit and determination of my team and technology partners, systematically overcoming hurdles and setbacks along the way.
I want to express my deep gratitude to the exceptional team of Zwipers for their unfailing efforts through this challenging pandemic which has taken its toll on everyone.
My sincere thanks also go out to all our customers, partners, and shareholders for supporting our journey and sharing our mission - Making Convenience Safe and Secure.
I am looking forward to 2022 with a lot of excitement due to the prospects ahead.” says CEO of Zwipe André Løvestam.
Please find the annual report here
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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 zwipe.com
For more information, please contact:
Lars Kristian Solheim, CFO
+47 991 661 35
lars.kristian@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY – 23 February 2022 – Zwipe AS today publishes its second half-year 2021 report.
Summary of financial development for the second half-year 2021:
Please find the second half-year report here
The annual report 2021 will be released through a separate stock exchange announcement shortly after this announcement.
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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 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 Euronext Growth Oslo, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out above, at 07:58 CET on 23 February 2022.
OSLO, NORWAY – 23 February 2022- The share capital increase of 384,000 new shares in Zwipe AS, as resolved by the board meeting of the company on 20 January 2022, has today been registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises. The new share capital is NOK 3,736,668.50, and the new number of shares and votes are 37,366,685.
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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 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 Euronext Growth Market Oslo and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Stockholm. 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 00:20 CET on 23 February 2022.
OSLO, NORWAY – 22 February 2022- The share capital increase of 384,000 new shares in Zwipe AS, as resolved by the board meeting of the company on 20 January 2022, has today been registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises. The new share capital is NOK 3,736,668.50, and the new number of shares and votes are 37,266,685.
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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 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 Euronext Growth Market Oslo and on Nasdaq First North Growth Market Stockholm. 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 20:00 CET on 22 February 2022.
OSLO, NORWAY and DELHI, INDIA – 21 February 2022 – sKarn RoboticS, a high-tech company providing security and privacy solutions to businesses, consumers, and the government sector, is strengthening its solution portfolio with biometric access control and co-branded biometric payment cards built on Zwipe’s technology. Headquartered in Oslo with a global presence, Zwipe is pioneering the deployment of the next generation biometric payment and access control cards globally.
Founded in 2019, sKarn RoboticS is one of the key contributors to the ‘Self Reliance’ initiative of the Indian government. The company is investing heavily in building ultra-secure digital products and services ecosystems for end-users and businesses. Its WeCript portfolio delivers high-grade security and privacy controls for remote communication, secure searching, browsing, SaaS and e-commerce. Right to privacy, right to freedom and right to information are the three core values at sKarn RoboticS. The company recently won “2021 Global Revolutionary Founder of the Year” and “2021 Global Innovative Product of the Year” from the Government of India.
Speaking on the collaboration, sKarn RoboticS’s Founder & COO, THE KARN, said, “Our mission is to provide highly secured digital services that significantly empower end-users with top rated privacy, security and digital experience. Zwipe’s extremely secure biometric payment and access control cards strongly complement our core values and fit perfectly in the WeCript Ecosystem, our solution portfolio. From Q3 2022 or before, we aim to launch pilots for our B2C and B2B customers with a few thousand biometric access control and payment cards and expect a rapid scale-up thereafter. Biometric cards will create meaningful value for all our customers.”
sKarn RoboticS will take deliveries from selected manufacturers of biometric cards in Zwipe’s global ecosystem with focus on India and key growth markets.
Commenting on this development, André Løvestam, Chief Executive Officer at Zwipe, said: “It is great to see an ambitious and fast-moving high-tech security solution provider such as sKarn RoboticS, with its WeCript Ecosystem, recognize the value of biometric cards for its customers. Both organizations share the passion to deliver enhanced security, privacy and convenience to our direct customers and end customers. We are very much looking forward to our collaboration with sKarn RoboticS and their customers”.
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About sKarn RoboticS
Founded in 2019 by THE KARN, sKarn RoboticS is an Indian tech start-up company, govt. accredited and recognized by DPIIT as start-up India. Carrying forward the Indian government's initiative, sKarn RoboticS is working on prioritizing the significance of building a safe and secure internet ecosystem for the users and businesses. Its private and secure product line named "WeCript Ecosystem'' is a product of the visionary thinking of the founder of sKarn RoboticS, THE KARN about making India and world self-reliant. The company aims to ensure data protection and privacy for users, serving right and relevant results across the web through WeCript Ecosystem.
Core Values of sKarn/Wecript Ecosystem:
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 zwipe.com
For further information please contact: André Løvestam, CEO, +47 934 36 952, info@zwipe.com
OSLO, NORWAY– 25 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe has entered into a partnership with XH Smart, a global smart card manufacturer, focused on commercializing end to end biometric payment offerings to XH Smart customers in China and beyond.
XH Smart is a global solutions provider offering end-to-end digital security solutions to banks and telecom operators in more than 70 countries across the world. A fully accredited Visa, Mastercard and China UnionPay card manufacturer, the company has grown rapidly since its founding in 2011, becoming a global player in the payment card marketplace, marked by several large industry acquisitions both inside and outside of China. In 2018 the company manufactured in excess of 44 million payment cards.
Speaking on the agreement with Zwipe, Mr Eehou Lim, XH Smart Group SVP, said “We are convinced that biometric payment cards is becoming one of the new standards in payments going forward and that is why we have partnered with Zwipe, the only company that can assist us in offering an end to end solution to our customers. We are confident that we have the right pieces in place to seize this exciting opportunity.”
Zwipe’s end to end offering buoyed by its strong intellectual property portfolio provides card manufacturers physical components and manufacturing support. Additionally, the comprehensive package covers advisory services that will enable card manufacturers to provide a more complete offering to banks and issuers, by directly supporting product integration, customer enrolment and onboarding on multiple platforms.
Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “We are excited to partner with XH Smart and to contribute to their capacity to deliver not just an innovative new product but a complete experience to their discerning customers, driven by our shared commitment to making convenience secure.”
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Munich, Germany, and Oslo, Norway – 18 June 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and the world’s leading provider of semiconductor solutions in the payments market, Infineon Technologies AG, have extended their non-exclusive partnership through a long-term agreement. This settlement outlines both technical and commercial collaboration between the two companies. The two parties will co-define and develop advanced system-on-chip solutions and related system designs for mass deployment of biometric smart devices, including payment cards and wearables.
Tap and go payments with biometric cards are gaining considerable market traction as they significantly improve the user experience without compromising on security, supporting the strong customer authentication (SCA) requirements demanded by the second Payment Service Directive (PSD2) in Europe.
Zwipe and Infineon have a long-standing relationship. Infineon’s Secure Element is currently deployed in all pilot projects featuring Zwipe’s biometric payment platform, currently supporting multiple leading payment networks run by 12 major banks in various countries across Europe and the Middle East. Card manufacturers plan to certify fully biometric payment cards and make them commercially available this year.
Commenting on this partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “We are proud to strengthen our long-standing partnership with a global technology leader such as Infineon. This collaboration further enhances our ability to commercialize our technology and IP through competitive solutions for mass-volume deployment.”
Bjoern Scharfen, Head of Payment & Wearables at Infineon had the following to say: “Our collaboration and joint offering with Zwipe is a key accelerator of mass deployment in the biometric payment market.”
Working together, the two technology companies will seek to develop advanced integrated solutions optimized to the volume requirements of biometric dual-interface payment cards. The platforms being developed combine simplified card design with reduced bills of material.
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*Secure Element (SE) is a microprocessor chip which can store sensitive data and run secure apps such as payment. It acts as a vault, protecting the information inside the SE (applications and data) against malware attacks that can be typical launched against the host (i.e. device operating system).
OSLO, NORWAY– 3 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Goldpac, China’s largest secure payment solution provider are partnering to launch biometric payment cards, enrolment offerings and related services to Goldpac’s extensive customer network, including some of the largest financial organizations in the world.
Goldpac is fully certified by VISA, MasterCard, China Union Pay, American Express, JCB and Diners. As one of the top payment card producers in the world and the largest in the Asia Pacific region, Goldpac supplies payment smartcard chips, instant issuance card kiosks and card personalization /issuance solutions.
Speaking on this partnership, Oliver Hui, Senior Vice President of Goldpac Group, said “At Goldpac, we focus on supplying our customers with state-of-the-art fintech solutions that help them succeed in today’s dynamic payment ecosystem, and doing so innovatively and securely. Biometric cards enable our card issuance customers to in turn provide their end users with cards that are secure and convenient to use, such as for payments or for identification, and we are excited to work with Zwipe to qualify and then introduce their biometric technology to our customer base, in the process providing a winning solution to our customers.”
The complete collaboration will include licensing of Zwipe intellectual property, technical integration of Zwipe components and hardware, adoption of Zwipe’s suite of enrolment solutions and advisory services, targeting biometric payment card pilots with various issuers before the end of 2019.
Commenting on this milestone agreement, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “ Goldpac is one of the largest, and fastest growing innovators in the global payment card market and we are excited to support their efforts in commercializing biometric payment solutions globally.”
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OSLO, NORWAY – 3 JUNE 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe today announced that Lisbeth Breum has notified the company that she is resigning from her position as chief financial officer effective 31 August 2019 to assume a CFO role in a company unrelated to biometrics, smart cards or payments.
“On behalf of the Zwipe team, I want to thank Lisbeth for her contributions during formative years for Zwipe. We wish her all the best in her future endeavors,” said André Løvestam, Zwipe CEO. The company is in the process of finding a new CFO and will announce this when concluded. “We have added new capacities to both our technology and operations teams during the last year. The new CFO will join a team built to drive the next part of our journey towards international commercialization of Zwipe’s leading solutions”, Løvestam added.
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OSLO, NORWAY- 14 May 2019 - The Annual General Meeting in Zwipe was held today. Enclosed are the Minutes of Meeting from the Annual General Meeting.
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BEIRUT, LEBANON – 09 MAY 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Inkript, a digital security provider and a subsidiary of Resource Group, have partnered to launch biometric payment cards.
Inkript’s state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities in Lebanon and Saudi Arabia are certified by Visa and Mastercard for EMV cards production. The company caters for customers across the Middle East, Africa and Europe, and has shipped over 70 million smartcards in 2018, making it one of the largest card manufacturers in the region.
Speaking of this partnership, Hisham Itani, Chairman and CEO of Resource Group said “we are pleased to launch our partnership with Zwipe to cater to the growing demand of secure banking cards in the region. Biometric payment cards add a valuable layer for secure payments and banks are keen to have this innovative product. He added “Our partnership with Zwipe, a proven technology leader in this emerging market, is introducing a cutting-edge biometric solution to financial institutions in the region and we are happy to be among the first movers.”
Zwipe and Inkript will collaborate technically and commercially to bring biometric payment cards to market. Several banks have expressed interest to pilot the offering, with the first pilots expected to launch before the end of 2019.
Commenting on this important partnership, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “we are excited to partner with Inkript to introduce and deploy our technology with their customers. Based on the positive feedback from the successful pilots in the region, we are confident that the market is primed for growth.”
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OSLO, NORWAY- 23 April 2019 - The board of directors of Zwipe AS (the “Company”) calls for the annual
general meeting to be held at the premises of Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS at Filipstad Brygge 1, 0252 Oslo, Norway on 14 May 2019 at 13:00 CET.
Please find enclosed the notice of the annual general meeting. The notice and the Company’s annual report for 2018 is available on the Company’s website www.zwipe.com.
Notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 13 May 2019 at 16:00 CET. Shareholders are encouraged to register this electronically through the company’s website www.zwipe.com. Alternatively, the attached form may be sent by e-mail to genf@dnb.no, or regular post to DNB Bank ASA, Verdipapirservice, NO-0021 Oslo.
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Q1 2019 highlights and recent developments
Status and outlook
André Løvestam, Chief Executive Officer at Zwipe, said:
“Throughout the first quarter, we have continued to execute on our Generation NxT program, focusing on technological and supply chain advancements and cost reductions, making sure we have a competitive offering available as the industry is moving forward towards making biometric payment cards an offering to paying consumers. We have also made progress in ongoing pilots and continuously gained valuable feedback, enabling us to develop our products’ performance and functionality to even better meet the needs of the marketplace. We remain dedicated to ensuring continuous organizational improvements, which will be a vital differentiating factor as we move towards the large-scale, commercial adoption of biometric payment technology.
A strong and diverse partner ecosystem will also be increasingly important going forward. We see a trend that stakeholders across the value chain are branching out to multiple partners to reduce dependency on single partners or technologies, and we expect banks, payment networks and card manufacturers alike to secure at least dual-sourcing of their solutions for continuity of supply and general risk mitigation.
The feedback we have received and the experiences we have gained as supplier of inlays to the absolute majority of battery-less contactless biometric payment cards pilots to date, as well as the improvements we have achieved in both improving performance and reducing manufacturing cost for our Generation NxT-based inlay, which is our solution for the certification process and the anticipated subsequent roll-out of commercial biometric payment cards, make us confident that we remain well-placed to be a leading supplier of inlays in this phase.
Throughout the first quarter, we continued to strengthen our market position by building new important strategic partnerships, supporting our long-term ambition of catering to the unique needs of different regions.
The scale and scope of the opportunity we face is continually confirmed with increasing interest from stakeholders globally and we remain confident in Zwipe’s strong position in the biometric payment card value chain as we continue on our mission of making convenience secure.”
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OSLO, NORWAY – 16 APRIL 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe announces a proprietary JavaCard operating system (OS) solution compatible with multiple global payment network applets. The solution is integrated with Zwipe’s biometric engine and is relevant for biometric payment cards, wearables and other ultra-low power payment and biometric applications.
In the biometric payment card marketplace, the primary operating systems in use are Multos and Java. Speaking on the JavaCard OS solutions development, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “With this announcement, Zwipe is uniquely positioned to be able to offer products that address both Multos and Java, further broadening the company’s scope in meeting various customer preferences and needs in the biometric payment card marketplace” adding “several of our already announced partners will use our JavaCard enabled biometric payment solution and we have received interest from multiple other card manufacturers to integrate it into their payment card offerings”.
Zwipe’s biometric payment platform features the company’s biometric engine and power management systems located on a flexible inlay which is integrated inside a traditional payment card by card manufacturing partners. This platform is seamlessly integrated with JavaCard OS and multiple payment applets found on the card’s secure element.
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