CPI^®’s Second Wave^® card for US Bank Receives Honors as the Best Secure Environmentally Friendly Payment Card Winner

CPI Card Group Inc. (Nasdaq: PMTS) (“CPI” or the “Company”), a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions, today highlighted receiving honors as a winner during the International Card Manufacturers Association’s (ICMA) 2021 Élan Awards of Excellence. The annual awards celebrate the pinnacle of design innovation, security and technical achievements in the global card industry.

CPI was named a winner in the “Environmentally Friendly” category, which recognizes payment cards that distinguished themselves in design and development while incorporating eco-focused materials. The US Bank Diving Turtle Debit card – a dual interface contactless debit card featuring a core made with recovered ocean-bound plastic – brings an eye-catching design to appeal to a cardholder’s environmentally-conscious mindset. The card’s turtle imagery, designed to emphasize the connection with the ocean is captured in vibrant four-color print, while its technically advanced functionality enables secure, contactless payments for today’s consumers.

Featuring a core made with recovered ocean-bound plastic, Second Wave^® is an EMV^® compliant and dual interface capable payment card that enables companies to help reduce first-use plastic, while diverting plastic from entering the ocean. CPI estimates that for every one million Second Wave cards produced, over one ton of plastic will be diverted from entering the world’s oceans, waterways and shorelines. According to a CPI Card Group Consumer Insights Study, 94 percent of consumers say they are concerned about the amount of plastic waste in the oceans – with 87 percent of respondents finding the idea of an ocean-plastic card appealing. Fifty-three percent of survey respondents expressed a willingness to switch to another financial institution if it offered such cards with the same features and benefits.

“Our mission with our eco-focused cards has always been about reducing the utilization of first-use plastic in payments while elevating the cardholder experience in parallel,” said John Lowe, SVP and General Manager, Secure Card Solutions, CPI Card Group. “We’re thrilled to see our efforts recognized by the ICMA and look forward to continuing our mission to design innovative, attention-grabbing payment cards that delight consumers while advancing the use of recycled materials in our industry.”

About CPI Card Group^®

CPI Card Group^® is a payment technology company and leading provider of credit, debit and prepaid solutions delivered physically, digitally and on-demand. CPI helps our customers foster connections and build their brands through innovative and reliable solutions, including financial payment cards, personalization, and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) instant issuance. CPI has more than 20 years of experience in the payments market and is a trusted partner to financial institutions and payments services providers. Serving customers from locations throughout the United States, CPI has a large network of high security facilities, each of which is registered as PCI compliant by one or more of the payment brands: Visa, Mastercard^®, American Express^® and Discover^®. Learn more at www.cpicardgroup.com.

EMV^® is a registered trademark in the U.S. and other countries and an unregistered trademark elsewhere. The EMV trademark is owned by EMVCo, LLC.

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