Toronto, Ontario, April 1, 2021 – Payfare Inc. (“Payfare” or the “Company”) (TSX:PAY) a financial technology company powering digital banking and instant payout solutions for the global gig economy announced updates to its business operations following filing of its Year End 2020 Audited Financial Statements (“Statements”) and Management Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the year ending December 31, 2020. A comprehensive discussion of Payfare’s financial position and results of operations are provided in the MD&A for the year ending December 31, 2020 filed on SEDAR and can be found at www.sedar.com.

2020 Financial Highlights: 

• Revenue increased 113% to $13,449,513 for the year compared to revenue of $6,309,642 for 2019.   The 2020 revenue growth over 2019 was mainly attributable to the continued rollout of the Lyft Direct program to Lyft drivers and the launch of the DasherDirect program to DoorDash drivers in Q4 2020.

2021 Business Updates:

• On March 19, 2021, the Company successfully completed its upsized initial public offering (IPO) that was significantly oversubscribed.  The Company issued 10,900,000 common shares (on a post-consolidation basis) at $6.00 per share. The Company began trading its shares on Toronto Stock Exchange under the symbol “PAY”.
• Payfare increased its active user count by 54% from the end of December 2020 to the end of February 2021.  With the expanded reopening of businesses across the United States Payfare anticipates the demand for rideshare services to continue to increase, along with higher consumer spending.

• Payfare increased its gross dollar value loads (GDV) by 53% from the end of December 2020 to the end of February 2021.  Payfare’s amount of funds added to cardholders’ Payfare accounts, or GDV loads has a direct correlation to revenue.

• Further to the announcement made December 14, 2020 regarding the launch of the DoorDash DasherDirect program, the Company expanded to a full nationwide rollout in March 2021 and anticipates continued demand and new signups in the coming months.
• On March 22, 2021, the Company used a portion of the proceeds from the IPO to repay all its outstanding debt facilities and is now debt free. 

“Navigating the past year of uncertainty and hardship resulting from the Covid 19 pandemic was a heavy challenge for our team, clients and cardholders.  We quickly pivoted how and where we work, but our focus and mission remained steadfast,” says Mr. Margiotta, CEO and Chairperson of Payfare.  

“In March of 2020 State and Provincial governments ordered the temporary closure of many businesses due to the Covid 19 pandemic. In the midst of these closures and material disruption to the global ride hailing industry, we were still able to more than double our revenue in 2020 from 2019. 

We continued to build innovative banking and payout solutions for our clients, so their gig workforces can access their earnings faster to better support their families and needs.  In the past year, we saw a heightened need for immediate access to earned wages, as unemployment rates climbed and many turned to gig work as a source of income.  

I am immensely proud of the Payfare team for what we were able to accomplish in such a difficult year, the impact we have on our cardholders, and am excited to see that 2021 is already setting up to be another year of significant growth for the company,” said Mr. Margiotta.

No securities regulatory authority has either approved or disapproved of the contents of this news release. This news release does not constitute an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale or any acceptance of an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Forward-Looking Information
This press release may contain forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities legislation, which reflects Payfare’s current expectations regarding future events. Forward-looking information is based on a number of assumptions and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, many of which are beyond Payfare’s control, that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those that are disclosed in or implied by such forward-looking information. Such risks include the factors discussed under “Risk Factors” in Payfare’s final prospectus dated March 15, 2021. Payfare does not undertake any obligation to update such forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as expressly required by applicable law.