SmartMetric Says Rapid Growth Continues for EMV Chip Cards With 2 Billion New Chip Cards Issued Globally in 2015 -- Over 500 Million in USA Alone

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - May 23, 2016) - SmartMetric, Inc. (OTCQB: SMME) -- SmartMetric, the manufacturer of biometric fingerprint protected safer EMV chip payments cards, says the recent figures of EMV chip card shipments shows the continued massive growth of the chip card and its dominance in the credit and debit card markets globally.

According to figures just released by the Smart Payment Association, more than 2 billion new chip payment cards were issued in 2015 alone. More than 500 million of these new chip cards were issued in the United States in 2015.

Figures published by the EMVco. The industry standards body for chip payments cards showed that as of the end of 2014, 3.4 billion chip cards had been issued by banks world wide.

SmartMetric has created a biometric credit card that has a built "in-side the card", fingerprint scanner. In order for the card to work the card holder simply rolls their finger across a sensor on the cards surface and in less than 0.25 seconds the card scans, matches and then activates the card based on the users matching fingerprint.

SmartMetric unveiled its revolutionary biometric protected card last month at the Smart Card Alliance Payments Forum in Orlando, Florida. We have been approached by some of the biggest card issuing banks in the world who very interested in our technology, said SmartMetric's President and CEO, Chaya Hendrick. SmartMetric is elated with the level of interest already shown by major card issuing banks and we look forward to working with established institutions around the world in the adoption of our biometric card technology, said Chaya Hendrick.

SmartMetric will be showing its card at the Money 20/20 conference in Las Vegas, October 23 - 26, 2016. Money20/20 is the world's biggest event covering payments and financial services innovation. 

With 10,000+ attendees, including more than 1,000 CEOs, from 3,000 companies and 75 countries, expected at the Money 20/20 2016 U.S. event, Money 20/20 is at the center of disruptive ways in which consumers and businesses transact with money.

SmartMetric has created a miniature fingerprint reader that sits inside credit cards that in turn is used to activate the card only following a fingerprint match with the cards legitimate user. The SmartMetric biometric card works with the chip card (EMV) technology and does not require additional equipment or software on the part of card issuers and banks. SmartMetric has embedded a fully functional fingerprint reader that sits inside the EMV chip cards and is used to identify the card user and then turn on the card. There are more than 3.4 billion EMV payments cards issued globally.

To view a video of the SmartMetric biometric chip card follow this link:

SmartMetric Biometric Payments Card -- https://youtu.be/zSX59uHoHqU.

To view the company website: www.smartmetric.com.

Safe Harbor Statement: Certain of the above statements contained in this press release are forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements are within the meaning of that term in Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Readers are cautioned that any such forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and involve risks and uncertainties, and that actual results may differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements as a result of various factors.