Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc. (“Net1” or the “Company”)
(NasdaqGS:UEPS) (JSE:NT1) today announced that it has entered into
an agreement to acquire a 5% additional interest in Bank Frick
& Co. AG (“Bank Frick”), a fully licensed bank based in
Balzers, Liechtenstein. Following the successful completion of this
investment, the Company will own 35% of Bank Frick. The Company has
an option, exercisable until October 2, 2019, to acquire an
additional 35% interest in Bank Frick.
Bank Frick was the first bank in the CHF area to offer a
cryptocurrency certificate in the summer of 2017, allowing
professional investors to add cryptocurrencies to their portfolios.
Bank Frick also supports and assists a large number of companies
with their initial coin offerings (“ICOs”), in compliance with the
strict European legislation regarding customer identification know
your client (KYC), anti-money laundering (AML), source of money and
other related legislation.
Net1 acquired its 5% interest from the Kuno
Frick Family Foundation at a premium, and this premium will be
reinvested in the bank in order to establish and accelerate the
expansion of a dedicated team focused on the development and
various applications of blockchain technology.
“Our further investment in Bank Frick emphasizes
the importance of our involvement with the Bank, and the multiple
synergies between our two organizations,” said Herman G. Kotzé, CEO
of Net1. Bank Frick is progressive and has developed a range of
exciting business models and products in the areas of payment,
cryptocurrency trading and blockchain applications, and its
pipeline of new products and services is growing. With blockchain
in particular, we see interesting opportunities to make attractive
products available for people in countries with a low concentration
of banks,” he concluded.
“As part of our agreed digital strategy, we are striving to
combine the reliability of the classic banking system with the new
opportunities offered by digitization and blockchain technology,”
said Edi Wögerer, CEO of Bank Frick. “Net1’s additional involvement
serves to meaningfully strengthen our digital strategy,” he
added.
About Net1
(www.net1.com)
Net1 is a leading provider of alternative
payment systems that leverage its Universal Electronic Payment
System (“UEPS”) or utilize its proprietary mobile technologies.
The Company operates market-leading payment processors
in South Africa and the Republic of Korea. Through
Transact24, Net1 offers debit, credit and prepaid processing and
issuing services for Visa, MasterCard and ChinaUnionPay in China
and other territories across Asia-Pacific, Europe and Africa, and
the United States. Through Masterpayment, Net1 provides payment
processing and enables working capital financing in Europe.
UEPS permits the Company to facilitate
biometrically secure, real-time electronic transaction processing
to unbanked and under-banked populations of developing economies
around the world in an online or offline environment. Net1’s
UEPS/EMV solution is interoperable with global EMV standards that
seamlessly enable access to all the UEPS functionality in a
traditional EMV environment. In addition to payments, UEPS can be
used for banking, healthcare management, payroll, remittances,
voting and identification.
Net1’s mobile technologies include its
proprietary mobile payments solution - MVC, which offers secure
mobile-based payments, as well as mobile banking and prepaid
value-added services in developed and emerging countries.
Net1 has a primary listing on the NASDAQ and a
secondary listing on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange.
About Bank Frick
(www.bankfrick.li)
Bank Frick is a family-run Liechtenstein bank with headquarters
in Balzers. It was founded in 1998 by Kuno Frick Sr (1938–2017),
with the majority now controlled by the Kuno Frick Family
Foundation. Minority shareholder Net 1 UEPS Technologies, Inc.
(Net1), holds 30 per cent of Bank Frick’s share capital. Net1 is a
financial technology company listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in
New York.
Bank Frick focuses on providing products and services for
financial intermediaries such as fiduciaries, asset managers,
payment service providers and fintechs.
Bank Frick develops tailor-made funds for intermediaries and
acts as a custodian bank.
It is the only bank in Liechtenstein with acquiring licences
from Visa and MasterCard.
Bank Frick employs around 90 members of staff and operates a
branch in London, UK.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking
statements that involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All
statements, other than statements of historical fact, included in
this press release regarding strategy, future operations, future
financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects,
plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements.
The Company may not actually achieve the plans, intentions or
expectations disclosed in its forward-looking statements. Actual
results or events could differ materially from the plans,
intentions and expectations disclosed in the forward-looking
statements that the Company makes. Factors that might cause such
differences include, but are not limited to: the possibility that
the expected synergies from the investment will not be realized, or
will not be realized within the expected time period; disruption
from the investment making it more difficult to maintain business
and operational relationships; and other factors, many of which are
beyond the Company’s control; and other important factors included
in the Company’s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, particularly in the “Risk Factors” section of the
Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended June
30, 2017, as such Risk Factors may be updated from time to time in
subsequent reports. The Company does not assume any obligation to
update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new
information, future events or otherwise.
Investor Relations Contact:
Dhruv ChopraHead of Investor RelationsPhone:
+1-917-767-6722Email: dchopra@net1.com
Media Relations Contact
Bridget von HoldtBusiness Director –
Burson-Marstellar South AfricaPhone: +27-82-610-0650Email:
bridget.vonholdt@bm-africa.com
Bank Frick Contact
Sigvard WohlwendHead of Communication and
MarketingPhone: +423-388-2146Email:
Sigvard.wohlwend@bankfrick.li
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