ZWIPE AS – Publication of interim report first half-year 2021

OSLO, NORWAY – 26 August 2021 – Zwipe AS today publishes its first half-year 2021 report.

Summary Financial development

Second-quarter 2021

• Second quarter revenues at TNOK 952 (486)[1].
• Second quarter results after tax at TNOK -10 514 (-15 842).
• Profit per share for the second quarter of NOK -0.32 (-0.62).
• Cash flow from operations before financing at TNOK -12 385 (-12 367).

First half-year 2021

• Total revenues for the first half year TNOK 1 393 (880)[2].
• Results after tax at TNOK -26 935 (-31 590).
• Profit per share for the first half year of NOK -0.82 (-1.25).
• Cash flow from operations before financing and facilitation at TNOK -31 234 (-39 594).
• Cash and cash equivalents amounted to TNOK 94 860 on the day of closing, 30 June 2021.

 Significant events during the period  

• 03 Feb 2021: VOPY selects Zwipe Pay ONE platform for its biometric payment cards.
• 10 Feb 2021: Zwipe expands its Asia-Pacific and European footprints with four new customers.
• 02 Mar 2021: Tag Systems steps up collaboration with Zwipe on Biometric Payment Cards.
• 06 Apr 2021: Zwipe and KL HI-TECH to bring next-generation payment cards to India.
• 07 Apr 2021: Be ys Pay selects Zwipe to bring Biometric Payment Cards in France and Benelux.
• 12 Apr 2021: Zwipe Establishes Regional Presence in the Middle East & North Africa Region and India.
• 28 Apr 2021: Zwipe releases public demo of Zwipe Pay ONE.
• 10 May 2021: FSS selects Zwipe Pay ONE for Next-Generation Contactless Cards to be offered globally.
• 11 May 2021: Zwipe and Beautiful Card Corporation to bring Zwipe Pay ONE biometric payment cards to markets in Asia.   
• 03 Jun 2021: MEPS selects Zwipe Pay ONE for Next-Generation Contactless Cards in the MENA region.
• 16 Jun 2021: Silkways Card & Printing Ltd selects Zwipe to deliver Biometric Payment Cards in Bangladesh.
• 18 Jun 2021: Zwipe Establishes Local Representation in Bangladesh.
• 24 Jun 2021: Zwipe and Network International to deliver biometric payment cards to banks in the Levant region.

Significant events after the period 

• 16 Jul 2021: ICPS partners with Zwipe to bring Biometric Payment Cards to Africa and Asia.
• 23 Jul 2021: Zwipe Pay ONE under evaluation with Global Tier 1 Smartcard Manufacturer.
• 03 Aug 2021: Zwipe receives USD 1.9 million commercial order from Beautiful Card Corporation.
• 16 Aug 2021: MEPS to pilot Zwipe Pay ONE Biometric Cards with key executives at multiple Financial Institutions in Levant

Message from the CEO

Continued strong progress

During the first half of the year, Zwipe Pay ONE and our compelling end-to-end offering continued to drive interest from all stakeholders in the payment ecosystem. Thanks to continued strong and growing global interest in biometric payment cards among Smart Card Manufacturers, Personalization Bureaus, Payment Processors, and Financial Institutions, we have expanded our ecosystem in all these categories and will continue to further strengthen our foundation for future market success. During the period, we announced important new events and milestones:

• Delivery agreements with six smart card manufacturers, jointly delivering over 200 million payment cards annually in APAC, India, and Europe. We also extended our agreement with TAG Systems (part of Austria Card Group), which delivers 100 million payment cards annually in key markets worldwide.
• Go-To-Market collaboration with leading payment service providers, notably Financial Software and Systems (FSS), Network International, and Middle East Payment Services (MEPS) which together manage over 800 million payment cards.  

To proactively support our new customers and partners, we’ve taken many steps to strengthen our organization, including:  

• The appointment of Ramzi Saboury as the GM for the MENA region. He has over 25 years of financial industry experience in this market and has successfully launched many payment solutions.
• Finalized collaboration agreements with Masterline and Sonali Intellect Ltd. to drive our business in India and Bangladesh, respectively.

In April 2021, we demonstrated the Zwipe Pay ONE platform with a demo card and a home enrollment solution. We successfully carried out EMV authenticated transaction at Point-of-Sale terminals in a test environment. The feedback from the market was highly positive as we were able to demonstrate that transactions could be executed quickly and reliably, providing a considerable improvement to user experience, security, safety, and hygiene. 

We have now passed almost all critical milestones and major risk points, with piloting and certification left before full commercialization and mass volumes.

Several of Zwipe’s smart card manufacturing partners have completed their internal testing processes and have begun small-scale manufacturing trials. In August 2021, we received our first commercial order for the Zwipe Pay ONE platform from Beautiful Card Corporation (in Taiwan). The net contract value is $1.9 million, marking the transition to a new phase on a very exciting journey for Zwipe. Deliveries are planned to begin in 2022. The order is a testament to how Zwipe Pay ONE is getting closer to a mass-market launch and how our global delivery set-up is getting ready to bring the next generation of payment cards to issuers, smart card manufacturers and payment processors across multiple markets. 

At the same time, and as part of our global expansion plan, we have established wholly owned subsidiaries in the UK and Germany to support the global mass-market deployment of Zwipe Pay ONE powered payment cards.

Adding value through our unique and highly differentiated offer 

The offer Zwipe brings to the market has proven highly attractive. It consists of the industry’s most integrated secure element, offering superior energy efficiency and biometric performance at highly competitive manufacturing cost. Together with partners we manufacture our internally developed ISO module which integrates our secure element with our ISO contact plate and ultimately with our passive inlay. We provide methods and solutions for our customers to embed the fingerprint sensor during manufacturing of the biometric payment cards. Since our secure element is so advanced in its integration of capabilities that are otherwise provided by external components, our passive inlay allows for our customers to manufacture the complete biometric card at industry-leading cost. In addition to our turn-key technology offering, we offer value-added services and insights in our end-to-end approach. The number of customers that have selected Zwipe Pay ONE is the best testament to the competitive nature of our unique and highly differentiated offer.

With strong market traction and a welcoming reaction from major industry players worldwide, Zwipe is on track to deliver on our ambitions and bring the next generation payment experience powered by biometrics to consumers globally.

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This is information that Zwipe AS is obligated to make public pursuant to the continuing obligations of companies admitted to trading on Euronext Growth Oslo, Nasdaq First North Growth Market and the EU Market Abuse Regulation. Certified Adviser on Nasdaq First North is FNCA Sweden AB, info@fnca.se, +46 (0)8528 00 399. The information was submitted for publication, through the agency of the contact person set out below, at 08:00 CEST on 26 August 2021.

About Zwipe

Zwipe is pioneering the next generation contactless payments experience, providing biometric payment cards components and wearables technology that enable consumers to authorize transactions with their fingerprints without compromising their privacy. Together with an ecosystem of partners including global brands within digital security and financial services, Zwipe is "Making Convenience Safe & Secure" for banks, merchants and consumers. Zwipe's solutions address the hygiene and data theft pitfalls inherent in traditional authentication methods. Headquartered in Oslo, Norway, with a global presence, Zwipe is leading the next great shift in payments from contactless to contact-free. To learn more, visit www.zwipe.com

For more information, please contact: 
André Løvestam, +47 991 661 35, ir@zwipe.com