TrustBuddy AB
Company Announcement

TrustBuddy – Opening up for new European launches including Germany

Stockholm, 2012-11-22 09:07 CET -- Following the announcement released yesterday on the application for a credit facilitation (banking) license, the company hereby addresses a few issues relating to the new services. The new licenses will open up a much larger market potential than before, as it allows for opening TrustBuddy presence throughout Europe.

The current business model revolving P2P lending will not be affected by the added licenses. Instead, new services and business areas will be added, enhancing the quality of the products on offer, increasing the potential for profit, and improving the overall customer experience. New products will also broaden the possibilities for both lenders and capital investors, whilst increasing profit and reducing risks.

TrustBuddy has since 2011 been working with the launch of its services in Germany. To abide by German lending legislation, it has been necessary for TrustBuddy to either be associated closely with a local bank, or to use its own bank license and establish a local banking presence. After having reached a preliminary agreement with a partner bank in late 2011, further evaluations have shown that profitability would first be reached after an extensive amount of loans. On the basis of this, focus was reduced on the German market, to allow TrustBuddy to intensify efforts in other markets (Finland, Denmark etc), and the German market launch was postponed until TrustBuddy could launch it through their own bank and not through a third party solution. Due to the confidentiality revolving both the negotiations with the banking partners in Germany and TrustBuddy’s own plans of becoming a bank, the publication of this shift in strategy has been withheld; awaiting the announcement of TrustBuddy’s banking license application. Following yesterday’s press release, TrustBuddy can now inform the market that the German launch will not be done through a third party solution in 2012/2013, but through TrustBuddy’s own services in 2013/2014.

Financially, the German market size has previously been a major factor in the TrustBuddy expansion strategy. It was expected that the delayed launch would have a negative effect on earnings, but growth in the company’s present markets has proved so strong that TrustBuddy stayed ahead of its budgeted figures even without the added market size.

Once TrustBuddy is granted its next level of licenses for banking, a new launch strategy will be initiated with regard to the German market.

For additional information, please contact:

Jens Glasø, CEO, TrustBuddy International AB (publ)

+47 40 40 47 50, investorcare@trustbuddy.com

http://trustbuddy.com/

http://trustbuddyinternational.com/

About TrustBuddy International AB (publ)

TrustBuddy International AB (publ) is one of the first in the world to focus on arranging loans and capital provision between buddies in Scandinavia in an organised manner. The company is listed at NASDAQ OMX First North in Stockholm. Mangold Fondkommission AB is TrustBuddy International AB (publ):s Certified Adviser and market maker, contact number: +46 8-503 015 50.