TORONTO, ONTARIO–(Marketwired – June 9, 2016) – The Mint Corporation (TSX VENTURE:MIT) (“Mint” or the “Company”) announces the following:
New Product Launch
Mint Middle East LLC (“MME”), a company 51% owned by Mint, launches Hafed: A Financial & Digital Inclusion Program for United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) unbanked domestic workers. Aimed at enhancing the financial and digital inclusion of unbanked domestic workers in the region, Hafed extends the security and benefits of Wage Protection System (WPS) program salary cards to the domestic workers also. Hafed provides significantly improved experience to its unbanked card holders by offering best in- class ecommerce, financial, banking, and insurance services through an omni-channel experience, covering online and mobile touchpoints, thereby servicing cardholders seamlessly and with increased efficiency.
Hafed: features and benefits
Wage Protection System (WPS), developed by the Central Bank of UAE to record and guarantee timely and full-payment of agreed-upon wages, has been strongly supported by organizations such as MME by virtue of new card issuances and programs, including Hafed – which will pave the way for economic freedom for workers under-served by the mainstream banking institutions. The Hafed program also extends the benefits of WPS to the domestic workers who are currently not included in WPS.
The Hafed program will comprehensively address the financial needs of the unbanked cardholder, right from payday to daily financial transactions, free mobile application to unbanked card holders to manage their financial affairs and also deliver incentive-based offers so far enjoyed only by customers of mainstream banks. Hafed card holders will be entitled to a suite of value-added services including regular and enticing merchant offers and discounts.
Other features enhancing customer experience include zero-fee for cardholders, multiple language support at MME Cash Dispensing Machines (CDM), and free pay slips once every month amongst others. Corporate clients of MME benefit from free installation and management of private CDMs on every 2000 employees in the private premises of the employers, and free internet banking for all the corporate customers to manage their payroll related activities. To know more about Hafed please visit: http://www.hafed.ae/. The media center page http://www.hafed.ae/media-center/ has several informative videos on the Hafed product.
Business Update
Mint Gateway for Electronic Payment Services LLC (“Mint Gateway”), a company 51% beneficially owned by Mint, has signed a Letter of Intent to provide a prepaid card management program to a UAE financial services institution. The letter of intent is subject to the execution of a detailed legally binding agreement. These general purpose reloadable prepaid cards are to support the existing customer base of the financial services institution. Given the large scale it is anticipated that the deployment will happen over the next one year. Once fully deployed, this program is expected to generate annual gross revenues to Mint Gateway of over USD$2.5 million. Mint Gateway believes that its payments platform will handle the volume of activity under the program without significant additional costs. This customer win offers an early evidence that the end-to-end payments platform comprising issuing, processing and acquiring that Mint is developing may result in new opportunities for Mint in UAE and beyond.
Forward Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including a statement concerning the expected time required to deploy cards under the prepaid card management program for the UAE financial services institution and the expectation that the volume of activity under this program can be handled by Mint Gateway without significant additional costs. The forward-looking statements are based on certain expectations and assumptions made by the Company. Although the Company believes that those expectations and assumptions are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on the forward- looking statements because the Company can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially from those anticipated due to a number of factors and risks. The deployment of cards under the prepaid card management program, and the expectation that Mint Gateway’s payments platform will handle the volume of activity under the program without significant additional costs, are subject to operational issues which may arise in the course of deployment. The deployment of the program is also subject to the execution of a formal agreement with the financial services institution. Accordingly, there is a risk that the deployment of cards will not be completed within the anticipated time or at all and there is a risk that the costs to Mint gateway associated with the program may be more significant than now anticipated. The forward- looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date hereof. The Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required under applicable securities laws.
General Disclosure Statement
Investors are encouraged to read the Management Discussion and Analysis Documents filed on SEDAR for a description of additional risks associated with investing in the Company. The following statement is only intended to inform investors on certain of the many risks associated with investing in the Company. The Company operates predominantly in the Middle East. It is exposed to significant political, legal and regulatory risks associated with operating in this emerging and volatile market. The key management personnel and operations of the Company are based in countries which do not have strong and reliable judicial enforcement. This results in additional risk with respect to the enforcement of legal and contractual rights, including, for example but without limitation, the enforcement of the rights of creditors, the protection of intellectual property rights, the enforcement of joint venture arrangements, and binding key employees with non-compete agreements. Since inception, the Company has not reached profitability. The Company relies heavily on debt financing to fund its business plan. This has exposed the Company to unique financial risks associated with significantly higher than normal debt levels. Investors in the company are strongly encouraged to be aware of the significant risks of the Company, to conduct additional due diligence and to seek the help of a licensed investment advisor before investing in securities of the Company. Moreover, investors must be aware that the purchase of the Company’s securities involves a number of additional significant risks and uncertainties, as disclosed in the Management Discussion and Analysis reports filed on SEDAR by the Company. Investors considering purchasing securities of the Company should be able to bear the economic risk of total loss of such investment.
About The Mint Corporation
Established in 2004, Mint is a vertically integrated prepaid card and payroll services provider with its own processing platform, ATM network and proprietary branded card products delivered to unbanked workers in the United Arab Emirates. Mint operates as a payroll card and processing services provider in the UAE through its ownership in Mint Middle East LLC and Mint Gateway for Electronic Payment Services LLC.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
