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First Global Provides Outlook and Corporate Perspective Going Forward

FGBDF | May 15, 2017

Canada NewsWire

TORONTO, May 15, 2017

/NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO U.S. NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES./

TSX Venture Exchange: FGD
Frankfurt Stock Exchange: 1G5

TORONTO, May 15, 2017 /CNW/ - First Global Data ("First Global" or the "Company") is pleased to provide the following letter to our shareholders from the Company's Chairman and CEO.

First Global Data Limited (CNW Group/First Global Data Limited)

Dear shareholder,

I would like to offer my sincere gratitude for your unwavering support of our company. For those of you who have been long term shareholders, I trust that you have witnessed that your long-term view is paying off and we look forward to your continued support.

First Global is a solid company with an amazing future. We operate in the FINTECH sector which is one of the hottest sectors in the world today. You are part of a company that is becoming recognized on the global stage as a leader in the FINTECH sector.

We have benefitted from a number of factors which includes, among other things, the great people around us, our technology which is in high demand today, our business strategy of partnering with large organizations, our global focus, our foundation of compliance and licensing, and our corporate philosophy and business approach. We are very thankful for the incredible progress we have made thus far.

I would like to emphasize the following key points:

1)	Our Vision: First Global is aggressively moving toward becoming the world's first portable, interoperable mobile wallet/payment solution.

	Here is an example of what this means: Our customer in India downloads the Vpayqwik mobile app, loads Indian Rupees, they shop and spend directly on the mobile app, on ecommerce sites, and at real-world physical locations. That same customer decides to travel to Toronto to visit family. As they land in Toronto, they convert the currency in the Vpayqwik mobile wallet to Canadian dollars, they shop and spend. The customer then decides to travel from Toronto to Mexico. As they arrive in Mexico they convert the currency in their Vpayqwik mobile wallet to Mexican Pesos, they shop and spend. As funds run out, they reload the Vpayqwik mobile wallet by reach back to their bank account in India, reload and continue shopping and spending in Mexico.

2)	We Are Profitable: This is a significant statement as it is rare to find a profitable FINTECH company. We are highly motivated to ensure that the company remains profitable on a going forward basis.

3)	Revenue Growth: We are accelerating toward our near-term objectives. As part of our revenue growth plan, we: Have sold licenses which have facilitated our ability to penetrate key geographies, form strategic partnerships and deploy services. Are increasing the number of new customers and the number of new transactions, which drive per transaction revenues, which is our end-state revenue model. We have experienced good growth in this regard. Our next objective is to penetrate 1M active users who generate average Annual Revenue Per User (ARPU) of approximately $280 from fees and foreign exchange gains.

4)	Balance Sheet Improvements: We continue to focus on improving our balance sheet. It must convey strength as we move forward interacting with top tier global companies. In addition to what has already been announced we are working to finalize another debt conversion including additional debt forgiveness which occurred in November, 2015 and which had been pending TSX approval since that time. In addition, other debt is currently being negotiated for conversion at prevailing market pricing. Beyond these debt conversions, as we launch into high impact, high margin revenue mode in the near term, we believe that our fully diluted share count will remain at a standstill save and except for strategic financing from potential high level and high profile partners or through strategic M&A activity.

The last few months have been hectic as we initiate and integrate new business deals. A compilation of all our published news can be found on the corporate website (firstglobaldata.com).

In addition to our sales and business development efforts, we are fortunate to have proactive investors who assist by bringing business opportunities to the company. Our news pipeline continues to fill as more and more partnerships are continually being introduced. Examples of such initiatives include:

LianLian Pay/WeChat
Other China opportunities
Colombia initiatives
Nigeria
Ethiopia
North America

Some of these initiatives have been announced, and others will be announced at the appropriate time.

We have spent years developing and continuously fine tuning and enhancing our technology so we remain best in class. As a consequence of our highly evolved stage of development, we are able to capitalize on significant revenue opportunities as they are presented. All of these deployments are expected to drive significant revenues. Our FINTECH revenue model is robust, recurring and high margin.

First Global operates in a part of the FINTECH universe with the highest margin of profitability, this being the payments and remittances segment. To compound profitability and add diversity and versatility, we also now offer prepaid card technology and services. We believe this full suite FINTECH model will drive more business opportunities and revenue growth.

We are moving quickly now to launch the LianLian Pay initiative on the WeChat platform. This social messaging cross border remittance platform is a world's first.

Not only will we have access to LianLian Pay's 100 million user database but the service is housed in a social environment, WeChat, with close to a billion users. We have explained the revenue model of this deal in a prior news release and wish to add the sheer scale and scope of this program has the potential of hundreds of millions of dollars in recurring annual revenue.

LianLian Pay intends to spend considerable marketing dollars on this initiative to penetrate the highest possible percentage of users given the revenue rich scenario. The project will begin in the USA and is expected to expand to additional countries.

The initial trip to China was so successful we intend to return in the very near future to capture additional business in various stages of evolution. Some of these offer compelling large revenue scenarios, so it becomes imperative for us to expedite matters in rapid fashion.

Our optimism for the future has never been higher as we move to rapid growth, high margin, exponential revenue mode with deployment of the various business deals already signed.

Some shareholders have expressed concern over the volatility in our stock. It is important to note that in a natural order stocks trade organically. There are many different agendas in the investment world and as a result investing in junior speculative stocks is not an exact science.

We are focused on building shareholder value through solid growth and execution. We feel that given the dynamics of our business model and the stage of our evolution we are undervalued when compared to our peer group.

The best comparison was made by one of our stakeholders who said, we are "a combination of PayPal and Western Union". We won't argue with that hybrid fusion.

As the Chairman and CEO of First Global you have my personal commitment to continue acting always in the best interests of our shareholders. I am a shareholder also and look at things from your perspective every day. We are driven and will continue focusing on building value through execution, market penetration, and innovation.

Please accept my sincere gratitude for your ongoing support.

Andre Itwaru

Andre Itwaru
Chairman and CEO
First Global Data Limited

About First Global: (www.firstglobaldata.com)

First Global is an international financial services technology ("FINTECH") company. The Company's two main lines of business are mobile payments and cross border payments. First Global's proprietary leading edge technology enables the convergence of compliant domestic and cross border payments, shopping, Peer to Peer ("P2P"), Business to Consumer ("B2C"), and Business to Business ("B2B") payments. First Global enables its strategic partners and clients around the world with our leading edge financial services technology platform.

Caution:
Neither TSX Venture Exchange Inc. ("TSXV") nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSXV) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.

The securities offered have not been registered under the U.S. Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and may not be offered or sold in the United States absent registration or an applicable exemption from the registration requirements. This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or a solicitation of an offer to buy nor shall there be any sale of the securities offered in any jurisdiction in which such offer, solicitation or sale would be unlawful.

Forward Looking Information:
This news release contains "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Although First Global believes in light of the experience of its officers and directors, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors that have been considered appropriate, that the expectations reflected in this forward-looking information are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on them because First Global can give no assurance that they will prove to be correct. Readers are cautioned to not place undue reliance on forward-looking information. Actual results and developments may differ materially from those contemplated by these statements. The statements in this press release are made as of the date of this release. First Global undertakes no obligation to comment on analyses, expectations or statements made by third-parties in respect of First Global, its securities, or financial or operating results (as applicable). First Global disclaims any intent or obligation to update publicly any forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or results or otherwise, other than as required by applicable securities laws.

SOURCE First Global Data Limited