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

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

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

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

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

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About Asia Credit Card Production LTD

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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About Toppan Forms Card Technologies Limited.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

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About MDP

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

 

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

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

 

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

 

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

 

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

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

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OSLO, NORWAY – 26 February 2020 – Zwipe AS today publishes its annual report 2019. Please find the report attached. 

Highlights for 2019 include:

Financials 

  • Revenues of MNOK 1.5 (MNOK 2.3), of which payment MNOK 1.3 (MNOK 0.8) and access control MNOK 0.2 (MNOK 1.5)
  • EBITDA MNOK -92.0 (MNOK -60.3) including joint technology investments with Idemia of MNOK 19.0 (50% of the total commitment) and restructuring costs of MNOK 5.4
  • Earnings per share of NOK -5.98 (NOK -7.86)
  • Cash flow from operations before financing of MNOK -85.0 (-56.7)

Significant Events

  • Zwipe started the year by raising MNOK 120 in new equity and listing on Merkur Market at Oslo Børs in January. An additional MNOK 67 was raised through a rights issue in December 2019
  • During Q4 2019, Zwipe made preparations for dual listing on Nasdaq First North Growth Market in Stockholm. The listing process was completed on 28 January 2020
  • Through the year, Zwipe expanded the number of partnerships with leading smart-card manufacturers with the intent of developing biometric payment card offerings. New customer partnerships in 2019 included TAG Systems, TGS do Brasil, Inkript, GoldPac, XH Smart and dz card
  • In August Zwipe entered into a co-investment partnership with industry leader Idemia, securing global exclusivity for a cost-leading new generation biometric authentication platform, as well as    execution and industrialization capability
  • Zwipe was selected by Giesecke+Devrient (G+D), one of the worlds leading digital security providers, to develop a biometric wearable payment device with the intent to pilot the technology with leading European banks
  • Zwipe's first customer order of biometric card inlays was delivered
  • The prototype Z5 chip, a dedicated energy harvesting and power management chip, was launched in October
  • Zwipe unveiled the Zwipe Experience a bundle of products and services to assist customers to move from concept to mass market at the Trustech convention in November
  • The joint technology collaboration with Idemia enabled a major streamlining program, leapfrogging several previously planned stages of the technology development roadmap. Implemented activities    resulted in annual savings in excess of MNOK 40 from January 2020
  • Dr. Robert Müller was appointed Group CTO early in the year, and Lars Kristian Solheim was appointed new CFO of Zwipe commencing March 2020

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This is information that Zwipe AS is obliged to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Merkur Market, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency on the contact person set out below 08:00 CET on 26 February 2020

Media Inquiries

Patrice Meilland,
,
Chief Commercial Officer
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SAO BERNANDO DO CAMPO, BRAZIL – 9 APRIL 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil (TGS), reference in Technology Solutions, Services of Identification and Printing of Security Documents in Brazil and in the world, one of the largest card manufacturers in Latin America with 55 million cards produced in 2018, have agreed to co-develop and launch biometric payment cards.

Commenting on this strategically important development President of Thomas Greg & Sons do Brasil, Hernani Finazzi said “We are excited to partner with Zwipe and leverage their industry leading expertise and intellectual property to be a first mover in Brasil with a product we believe has a strong value proposition to our customers, some of the region’s most established and fasted growing issuers.”

TGS intends to utilize Zwipe’s technology platform in bringing their biometric payment cards and other associated solutions to market. Development has begun with integration of the TGS payment card platform with Zwipe’s proprietary biometric technology with the first joint products planned for release in 2019.  The two companies also confirmed that there are multiple banks in Brazil who have already engaged in serious dialogues to trial the solution.

Speaking on this important partnership André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe said “ We are proud to partner with a leading and innovative first mover like TGS and looking forward to collaborating on new opportunities in Latin America and beyond.”

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OSLO, NORWAY - APRIL 5, 2019 - Zwipe CEO, André Løvestam, presented at the Goode Intelligence Biometric Summit yesterday at Rise New York. He shared Zwipe's views on how biometric payment cards and biometric enabled wearable devices will help further expand the prevalence of contactless payments.  

Please find the presentation attached.

OSLO, NORWAY - 4 April 2019: Reference is made to the notice sent on 12 March 2019 for extraordinary general meeting on 11 April 2019 at 13:00 CET.

After issuance of the notice, the board have received a request from two shareholders for additional items to be included in the agenda for the extraordinary general meeting.

Enclosed you will find an addendum to the notice of the extraordinary general meeting relating to the shareholders request as applicable to their shareholder rights, which relates to:

  • Alternative proposal related to the proposal to establish a nomination committee
  • Alternative proposal related to the proposal to amend the articles concerning notice period
  • Election of two new board members in addition to the existing board members
  • Proposal related to an instruction to the board concerning the strike price on issued options

As stated on the notice sent 12. March; notice of attendance, in person or by proxy, shall be given no later than 10 April 2019 at 16:00 CET. Shareholders are encouraged to register this electronically through the company’s website www.zwipe.com or through VPS Investor Services (where pin code and reference number is not needed). 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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OSLO, NORWAY – 02 APRIL 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe and TAG Systems Group, a leading European card manufacturer announced a partnership to launch a commercial biometric payment card offering that will include a secure at-home enrolment solution.

TAG Systems is the primary card manufacturing partner for a large number of financial institutions based in Northern Europe and is a leading provider of a multitude of products for the major European based challenger banks that have seen rapid growth in the last 18 months.

Commenting on this major development in the growing biometric payment card marketplace Jon Neeraas, CEO of TAG Systems, said “we are excited to launch this partnership with Zwipe leveraging their expertise and intellectual property in this emerging product vertical” adding “we work with some of the world’s largest and fastest growing challenger banks and see their capability to launch new products in high volume, we believe financial institutions can embrace this biometric payment card technology and successfully scale up.”

TAG Systems’ subsidiaries throughout Europe including TagNitecrest in the UK, will support the commercialization of the solution by integrating Zwipe’s proprietary biometric technology platform by utilizing their expertise in card manufacturing, personalization and fulfillment services.

Speaking on this partnership André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “TAG Systems is one of most prominent card manufacturers in the Nordics and a first mover and leading supplier to European challenger banks. I am confident that this collaboration will further strengthen Zwipe’s position in the growing biometric payment marketplace.”

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OSLO, NORWAY – 01 APRIL 2019 – Biometric technology company Zwipe is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Robert Mueller as its Chief Technology Officer, effective today.

Dr. Mueller joins Zwipe with an impressive track record of over 20 years in senior technical development positions focusing on biometrics and smart card technology at leading companies such as Siemens, Giesecke+Devrient and BMW. His most recent role was serving as Chief Technology Officer at Next Biometrics.

At Zwipe, Dr. Mueller will lead Zwipe’s technical vision and development to ensure the company’s commercialization and long-term success. With this appointment, Zwipe will establish a European tech hub, which will complement the company’s existing research and development center in Colorado Springs, USA. Based out of Munich, Germany, the new hub will add further expertise to Zwipe on biometrics, algorithms, payment card integration, enrolment solutions and product management.

Commenting on this strong addition to the Zwipe team, CEO of Zwipe André Løvestam said “Robert brings a wealth of experience and knowledge and will be instrumental in ensuring the successful delivery of our technology platform to our expanding global customer base.”

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Oslo, 12 March 2019: Zwipe AS today publishes its annual report 2018. The report is attached to this notice and available for download at www.zwipe.com/about/ (investor relations).

The general meeting of Zwipe AS will be held Tuesday, 14 May 2019 at 13:00 CET.


For more information, please contact:

Lisbeth Breum, CFO
+47 932 28 126
lisbeth@zwipe.com


About Zwipe

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within financial services, security and ID applications, Zwipe is “Making Convenience Secure™” for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe’s solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards.

To subscribe or unsubscribe to notification of Zwipe news, please visit www.zwipe.com

Oslo, Norway, February 27 2019: Biometric technology company Zwipe has selected Fingerprint Cards’ T-Shape sensor for use in the company’s latest generation offering to be submitted for certification as part of Zwipe’s commercialization efforts for biometric payment cards. The selection is based on the sensor’s performance and scalability in mass volume production.

The selection also highlights Zwipe’s first patent* describing a method of manufacturing a smartcard with an on-board biometric sensor, where first a card body is formed having a circuit embedded within it, and then a cavity is formed in the card body to expose contacts on the circuit to connect to the biometric sensor. In the card manufacturing industry this production method is commonly referred to as post-placement, enabling industrialized manufacturing techniques such as hot lamination of plastic cards without damaging the sensor.

The T-Shape sensor is specifically designed to utilize this post-placement production method as it is the most efficient means of mass producing biometric smart cards. It is expected that, over time, a significant portion of biometric smart cards will be manufactured in this method. As previously communicated, fingerprint sensor suppliers are expected to sell sensors made for post-placement directly to the card producers as they will not be fixed to the card inlay before lamination.

The patent has been granted by the European Patent Office (EPO), as well as in the United States, China, South Korea and Australia. The patent was challenged in the EPO by multiple industrial groups. As a result, the patent is currently in an appeal process which is expected to take a minimum of two years if not longer to complete and finalize. During this period the rights granted under the EPO patent are upheld for the patent holder until a final decision is rendered.

Speaking on the selection André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said “we have a long-standing partnership with Fingerprint Cards and have chosen the T-Shape sensor because it gives our solution the quickest route to market, helping Zwipe offer a mass-market ready solution while leveraging our strong position in the value chain as evidenced by our patent portfolio.”

*Patent Numbers US9471825B2 / EP2842079B1 / KR 101758444B1 /CN 104380313B /AU2013252025/EP2842079B1

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About Zwipe

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial services and ID applications, Zwipe is “Making Convenience Secure™” for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe’s solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com


Further information:
André Løvestam, CEO
+47 930 44 040
info@zwipe.com 

The offering and outcome in brief

  • As previously announced, the offering comprised a total 6,000,000 new shares in Zwipe at a price per share of NOK 20, corresponding to NOK 120 million (USD 14 million). The pre-money valuation of the company was NOK 189 million (USD 22 million)
  • In accordance with their pre-commitments, Zwipe’s board of directors, large shareholders including Jörgen Lantto (Chairman) and Lars Windfeldt (principal owner and board member), and new institutional and professional investors have subscribed for a total of approximately 4.5 million shares for a total of NOK 90 million (USD 10.5 million)
  • The retail tranche, consisting of approximately 1.5 million new shares corresponding to NOK 30 million (USD 3.5 million), offered to existing shareholders in the company and to the general public in Norway and Sweden, was multiple times oversubscribed
  • Approximately 2,300 investors have been allocated shares in Zwipe. All investors who have applied for acquisition of shares in the offering to the general public in Sweden and Norway have been allocated shares
  • Zwipe has applied for admission to trading of the shares on Merkur Market and it is expected that Oslo Børs will approve the listing application of the company on or about 25 January 2019
  • Trading in the Zwipe share is expected to commence on or about 28 January 2019

Commenting on the capital raise André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said: “Zwipe is at the forefront of a global shift towards more secure and convenient contactless payments and the market is primed for growth. We are confident that our industry leading technology and partnerships will secure a strong market position both in the short and long-term. Thanks to the new funding received, we can intensify our efforts to support our customers and partners in Making Convenience Secure.”

Commenting on the capital raise Jörgen Lantto, Chairman of the Board of Zwipe, said: “The capital raise and subsequent admission to trading at Merkur Market are important milestones for Zwipe, as the company seeks to capitalize on its strong position in the biometric payment marketplace and as the payment industry moves towards bringing biometric payment cards to consumers. We would like to thank our existing shareholders for their continued support and welcome all new shareholders to Zwipe.”

Carnegie acted as Manager and Joint Bookrunner together with Redeye in connection with the offering. In addition, Nordnet acted as Selling Agent. Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS acted as legal advisor to the company and Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS acted as legal advisor to Carnegie.

Investor Relations contact:

Lisbeth Breum, CFO, +47 932 28 126  lisbeth@zwipe.com

About Zwipe

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial services and ID applications, Zwipe is “Making Convenience Secure™” for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe’s solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards.

To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com

Commenting on the capital raise and Merkur Market process, André Løvestam, CEO of Zwipe, said: 

“These are truly exciting times. Biometric payment cards enabled with Zwipe technology offer consumers the convenience of contactless and the security and peace of mind of biometrics. With a mission of Making Convenience Secure, Zwipe is the first mover and technology leader in our field. We are partnering with global leaders and are well protected with a strong IP portfolio.

We are preparing for a commercial breakthrough for our biometric payment card solution in the second half of 2019 and accelerating growth in 2020 and beyond, both within biometric payment cards, wearables and other form factors and verticals. With a strengthened balance sheet and shareholder base, we will be well positioned to capture the opportunities ahead.”

Zwipe highlights

  •  Zwipe is a biometric technology company focused on the development of secure, fast and easy-to-use biometric authentication solutions. It is a global first mover providing industry-leading energy harvesting and power management technology, which enables battery-less, contactless (and contact based) biometric payments by means of fingerprint authentication
  •  Zwipe’s technology addresses data theft risks inherent in traditional authentication methods, while at the same time providing a simple, frictionless and secure user experience
  •  Over the last couple of years, Zwipe has entered into a series of strategic partnerships with key payment industry stakeholders, accentuating Zwipe’s leading position as a biometric technology provider. Strategic partners include Gemalto, the world’s largest payment card manufacturer, and Chinese card manufacturer, Silone CardTech
  •  Multiple biometric payment card pilots utilizing Zwipe’s technology are currently progressing across Europe and the Middle East. These are being supported by leading industry stakeholders VISA, Mastercard and Gemalto, and comprise several large international banks, including Banca Intesa Sanpaolo, one of the 50 largest banks in the world
  •  In a recent report by research company Edgar Dunn and Company, the total addressable market for biometric dual interface payment cards in circulation was estimated to reach a potential of approximately 150 million cards in 2021, growing to 870 million cards in 2023 and 6.8 billion cards in 2027
  •  Zwipe aims for commercialisation of Zwipe-enabled biometric payment cards in H2 2019 followed by continued scale-up in 2020 and beyond. Long-term, Zwipe aims to deploy its secure, fast and easy-to-use biometric authentication solutions across a variety of form factors, including wearables, within several different verticals including payment, access control and government identification
  •  Zwipe was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Oslo, Norway with a 100% owned subsidiary in Colorado Springs, Colorado, USA. The Zwipe team consists of 32 people, of which 12 are situated in Europe and 20 in the U.S. Zwipe currently has 31 active patent applications with 8 patents granted to date

Financial history

Zwipe is pursuing a growth strategy and has since inception raised a total of NOK 241.3 million (USD 27.6 million) in equity, debt and grants. The capital has been invested in R&D, technology development, IP, organizational expansion, partnerships, operational expansion and other preparations for large-scale commercialisation.

In addition, Zwipe was awarded a NOK 23 million (USD 2.6 million) grant from the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 programme in December 2018. The grant will support Zwipe’s commercial go-to-market ability and will be paid out in tranches over the next 24 months. Horizon 2020 is the largest European Union (EU) Research and Innovation program, aiming to bring innovations faster to the market.

Offering highlights

The offering and subsequent admission to trading will contribute to strengthening Zwipe’s equity and financial position, including repayment of debt, and ensure sufficient funding of the company's planned commercialisation phase and further development of the company's technology.

The offering will consist of two tranches and is expected to raise gross proceeds of up to NOK 120 million (USD 13.7 million) through the issuance of up to 6 million new ordinary shares at a fixed price of NOK 20.00 per share.

The first tranche will be in the form of a private placement offered to large existing shareholders in the company and certain new investors in Norway and Sweden, who have pre-committed to subscribe for a total of 4.5 million shares in the amount of NOK 90 million (USD 10.3million).

Among the investors having provided pre-commitments are member of the board of directors, Lars Windfeldt, who has pre-committed to subscribe for 10.3% of the offering, approximately NOK 12.4 million (USD 1.4million) given a NOK 120 million round. Other members of the board of directors have pre-committed to subscribe for a total of approximately NOK 4.1 million (USD 0.5 million), approximately 3.4% of the offering.

The second tranche, in the amount of up to NOK 30 million (USD 3.4 million), will be in the form of a public offering of up to 1.5 million shares to retail investors. Existing shareholders in Zwipe who have not been allocated offer shares in the private placement will be offered to participate along with new retail investors in the Swedish and Norwegian markets.

All primary insiders in the company have entered into a lock-up agreement with the company, and hence are subject to a lock-up period of six months following completion of the offering.

Preliminary timetable and settlement:

Start of application period:                10 January 2019 at 09:00 hours (CET)

End of application period:                   17 January 2019 at 16:30 hours (CET) (may close earlier and on short notice)

Allocation:                                                 On or about 17 January 2019

Settlement:                                               Expected on or about 22 January 2019

Delivery and first day of trading:     Expected on or about 28 January 2019, not prior to the share capital is registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises and announced by the company

Note that the timetable is subject to any shortening or extension of the application period and to the conditions outlined below being satisfied.

Completion of the offering is conditional upon the following conditions being satisfied:

(i)                  The company obtaining admission to trading on Merkur Market,

(ii)                Approval of the offering by an extraordinary general meeting expected to be held on or about 18 January 2019,

(iii)              The company resolving to consummate the offering and allocate the offer shares, and

(iv)              Registration of the share capital increase in the company pertaining to the offering with the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises.

In addition, completion of the second tranche of 1.5 million shares to retail investors is conditional upon the approval of an EEA prospectus by the Financial Supervisory Authority of Norway (Finanstilsynet).

The offering is being managed by Carnegie AS and Redeye AB as Managers and Joint Bookrunners. In addition, Nordnet (Nordnet Bank AB in Sweden and Nordnet Bank NUF in Norway) is acting as alternative application office and receiving agent for applications for offer shares in the public offering from investors who are not existing shareholders of the company. Investors who are not existing shareholders and who wish to apply for offer shares in the public offering through Nordnet will have to apply for offer shares through their Nordnet accounts. Persons who are not customers of Nordnet will have to apply for an account in Nordnet in order to apply for offer shares in the public offering.

Advokatfirmaet Simonsen Vogt Wiig AS is acting as the company's legal counsel in connection with the offering and admission to trading. Advokatfirmaet Wiersholm AS acts as legal advisor to Carnegie AS in connection with the offering.

Media Contact for Zwipe: Ado Fazlic, VP Marketing, +47 930 44 040, ado@zwipe.com 

Important notice

The contents of this announcement have been prepared by, and are the sole responsibility of, the company. The company's financial advisors are acting exclusively for the company and no one else and will not be responsible to anyone other than the company for providing the protections afforded to their respective clients, or for advice in relation to the transactions, the contents of this announcement or any of the matters referred to herein. The transactions and the distribution of this announcement and other information in connection with the transactions may be restricted by law in certain jurisdictions. The company assumes no responsibility in the event there is a violation by any person of such restrictions. Persons into whose possession this announcement or such other information should come are required to inform themselves about, and to observe, any such restrictions. This announcement may not be used for, or in connection with, and does not constitute, any offer of securities for sale in the United States or in any other jurisdiction. The transactions have not, and shall not, be made in any jurisdiction or in any circumstances in which such offer or solicitation would be unlawful. This announcement is not for distribution or publication, directly or indirectly, in or into any jurisdiction in which it is unlawful to make any such offer or solicitation to such person or where prior registration or approval is required for that purpose. No steps have been taken or will be taken relating to the transactions in any jurisdiction in which such steps would be required. Neither the publication and/nor delivery of this announcement shall under any circumstances imply that there has been no change in the affairs of the company or that the information contained herein is correct as of any date subsequent to the earlier of the date hereof and any earlier specified date with respect to such information. This announcement is not for publication or distribution, directly or indirectly, in the United States (including its territories and possessions, any state of the United States and the District of Columbia). This announcement does not constitute or form part of any offer or solicitation to purchase or subscribe for securities in the United States. Securities may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an exemption from registration. The shares to be issued in the transactions have not been and will not be registered under the United States Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "US Securities Act") or with any securities regulatory authority of any state or other jurisdiction of the United States, and may not be offered or sold in the United States or to, or for the account of, U.S. persons (as such term is defined in Regulation S under the US Securities Act), except pursuant to an effective registration statement under, or an exemption from the registration requirements of, the US Securities Act. All offers and sales outside the United States will be made in reliance on Regulation S under the US Securities Act. There will be no public offer of securities in the United States. This announcement does not constitute an offering circular or prospectus in connection with an offering of securities of the company. Investors must neither accept any offer for, nor acquire, any securities to which this document refers, unless they do so on the basis of the information contained in the investor material made available by the company only to qualified persons in certain jurisdictions where an offer may be made. This announcement does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy or subscribe for, any securities and cannot be relied on for any investment contract or decision. The offering is not being made into Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, the United States or Switzerland.

About Zwipe

Zwipe is a technology solution provider that enables battery-less, ultra-low-power, self-contained biometric authentication solutions. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within security, financial services and ID applications, Zwipe is “Making Convenience Secure™” for banks, merchants and consumers. Using advanced fingerprint recognition while protecting personal information, Zwipe’s solutions address the data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, Zwipe has spent the last 10 years developing its unique power harvesting technology platform in combination with security solutions based on international infrastructure standards.

For more information, visit: www.zwipe.com

Media Inquiries

Patrice Meilland,
,
Chief Commercial Officer