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First Student Increases EPA-Awarded Electric School Bus Funding by $200M, Bringing Total to $401M

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New funding from the third round of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program means 673 electrified buses, after First Student led all contractors in rounds one and two

CINCINNATI, May 29, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, First Student, the leading school transportation provider in North America, and industry leader in electrification, received $200 million in rebates from the third round of funding of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program. The new funding brings First Student’s total program awards to more than $400 million across the three funding rounds, allowing the company to accelerate its push to provide healthier and safer rides to students through electrification. This round of EPA funding will enable First Student to deploy up to an additional 670 electric school buses in 45 school districts across the U.S. Overall, from all three EPA rounds to date, First Student will be able to deploy more than 1,200 electric school buses.

“First Student is leading the way on school bus electrification and this award supercharges that effort,” said First Student Chief Executive Officer and President John Kenning. “We would like to thank the Environmental Protection Agency for their support of this important priority. America’s students deserve the cleanest, safest rides to and from school, so they arrive at school ready to learn. First Student has the resources, expertise and ground-breaking technology to meet the moment. We are excited to continue building the school bus fleet of the future with the support of the EPA.”

First Student has successfully deployed more than 350 electric buses across North America and provided more than 3 million miles of emissions free operations in pursuit of its commitment to transition 30,000 diesel vehicles to electric by 2035. Today’s EPA investment will accelerate that plan. Scaling the use of these zero-emission vehicles will provide significant and tangible improvements for the environment. Replacing just one diesel school bus with an electric school bus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54,000 pounds each year. First Student has also been awarded approximately $65 million through other Canadian, federal, state and utility programs to electrify school bus fleets across the country.

“First Student is proud to call the EPA a partner in our school bus electrification efforts,” said First Student Head of Electrification Kevin Matthews. “First Student electric school buses funded by this program are already creating safer and cleaner rides to and from school and these investments means expanding that benefit to even more districts. Our expertise and resources ensure that school districts can put these awards to use right away, turning these rebates into much-needed fleet upgrades.”

The Clean School Bus Program allocates funds for school districts to help cover the cost of replacing fossil fuel school buses with zero-emission vehicles and associated charging infrastructure. Round two was competitively bid grants, while rounds one and three were lottery rebate awards. Today’s award represents the third batch of funding First Student has received through the program. In January 2024, the EPA awarded First Student $140 million, the largest amount awarded among all contractors, to enable First Student to deploy more than 370 new electric school buses in school districts across the United States.

In November 2022, First Student worked with 11 districts to secure EPA grants under the first round of funding. This funding, approximately $60 million, is designed to provide 11 school districts with of a total of 160 electric school buses. In awarding the rebates and grants, the EPA recognized First Student’s ability to bring utilities and municipalities together with school districts in order to build the charging infrastructure and create a seamless experience for schools.

First Student works directly with school districts on their electrification goals, collaborating on the applications to the EPA and in deploying and maintaining the vehicles. First Student has a team of internal expert consultants called First Consulting who works closely to make sure grant applications reflect specific school district needs.

B-ROLL/RESOURCES: Watch a video that showcases First Student’s electric school bus fleet.

About First Student

As a leading school transportation solutions provider in North America, First Student strives to provide the best start and finish to every school day. With a team of highly trained drivers and the industry’s strongest safety record, First Student delivers reliable, quality services, including full-service transportation and management, special-needs transportation, route optimization, and scheduling, maintenance, and charter services with a fleet of about 45,000 buses. For more information, visit firststudentinc.com .

CONTACT
Jen Biddinger
513.362.4600

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SOURCE First Student

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Sokin and Adyen Partner to Give US Businesses a Single Solution for Ecommerce Payments and Treasury Operations

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The partnership will provide Sokin clients with advanced global payment acceptance capabilities, combined with multi-currency accounts, FX, and treasuryTogether, Sokin and Adyen will support Sokin clients across the world, including US, Canada, UK, mainland Europe, UAE, Singapore and Australia

NEW YORK, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Sokin, the cross-border business payments and financial platform, today announced a strategic global partnership with Adyen, the global financial technology platform of choice for leading businesses. The partnership adds global payment acceptance to Sokin’s existing multi-currency accounts, FX, and treasury infrastructure, giving businesses a single platform to manage their entire cross-border financial stack.

The offering, now live in the US, will also support clients across Canada, UK, mainland Europe, UAE, Singapore and Australia. Businesses can accept payments through Sokin’s checkout and payment links functionality across more than 35 payment methods, over 170 countries and territories, and charge and settle in multiple currencies.

Most businesses operating internationally run their payment acceptance and their treasury operations on different platforms. That creates reconciliation overhead, high FX costs, and gaps in visibility that compound as transaction volumes grow. The Sokin and Adyen partnership removes that split, unifying payment acceptance with treasury management in a single platform. In an agentic environment, where AI needs to decide, approve, execute, and settle within a single programmable infrastructure, a fragmented payments infrastructure is a structural barrier.

“Businesses growing internationally have always had to stitch together multiple providers just to manage the basics of getting paid and paying out. This partnership closes that gap. One platform, one relationship, one view of your entire cross-border stack. That matters more than ever as AI becomes part of how finance teams actually work,” said Vroon Modgill, founder and CEO of Sokin.

“Expanding into new markets always brings complexity around how businesses can accept and optimise local payments. By partnering with Sokin, we’re helping to remove those barriers and give growing businesses the ability to scale internationally with the confidence that their payment experience is built to perform in every market,” said Adrian Davis, Managing Director Financial Services & Insurance at Adyen. “Through our global network and data-driven insights, our partnership with Sokin will help global businesses continuously optimise how they accept payments, meeting their customers wherever they are.”

The partnership launches as Sokin continues a period of significant growth. The company has grown revenues more than eightfold since 2022, closed a Series B funding round in late 2025, and secured a $100 million debt facility in January 2026. Sokin launched its stablecoin capabilities in March 2026, creating a unified finance platform for digital assets and traditional currencies. The company is backed by Morgan Stanley Expansion Capital, Prysm Capital and counts PayPal veterans among its board and investor group.

About Sokin

Sokin was founded in 2019 with a simple vision to remove borders, barriers and burdens associated with international payments. Today it enables global businesses to send and exchange more than 70 currencies and hold balances in 26 currencies with its multi-currency IBAN and local currency accounts — all through one comprehensive platform that streamlines cross-border accounts payable, receivable, and treasury operations. Headquartered in the United Kingdom, the company has offices in the United States, Canada, United Arab Emirates, Singapore, Mexico, Norway and India. For more information, visit www.sokin.com.

About Adyen

Adyen (AMS: ADYEN) is the financial technology platform of choice for leading companies. By providing end-to-end payments capabilities, data-driven insights, and financial products in a single global solution, Adyen helps businesses achieve their ambitions faster. With offices around the world, Adyen works with the likes of Meta, Uber, H&M, eBay, and Microsoft. The cooperation with Sokin as described in this merchant update underlines Adyen’s continuous growth with existing and new customers over the years.

Media Contact

James Hannaford
Chief Growth Officer
James.hanaford@sokin.com

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SOURCE Sokin

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VERSABANK ANNOUNCES INDUSTRY BREAKTHROUGH INNOVATION IN POINT-OF-SALE FINANCING WITH START OF PILOT PROGRAM FOR AI-ENABLED REAL-TIME STRUCTURED RECEIVABLE PROGRAM

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– Industry First Real-Time SRP Capability Significantly Expands VersaBank’s Addressable Point-of-Sale Market in Both Canada and United States; Provides Immediate Economic Benefit to Existing Partners –

– Real-Time Funding Capability Significantly Strengthens Bank’s Competitive Advantage by Providing Immediate Incremental Economic Benefit to Existing Partners –

LONDON, ON, April 29, 2026 /CNW/ – VersaBank (TSX: VBNK) (NASDAQ: VBNK) (“VersaBank” or the “Bank”) a North American leader in business-to-business digital banking, as well as technology solutions for cybersecurity, today announced it has commenced a pilot program with one of its major Structured Receivable Program partner, FinanceIt Canada Inc. (“FinanceIt”), for the Bank’s new Real-Time Structured Receivable Program (“Real-Time SRP”) (the “Pilot Program”). The purpose of the Pilot Program is to demonstrate the functionality and operational integrity of the Real-Time SRP in a limited-scale, real-world scenario to refine the solution for full implementation by FinanceIt and simultaneous roll out to all VersaBank’s current and prospective SRP partners in both Canada and the United States.

VersaBank’s Real-Time SRP is a breakthrough innovation in point-of-sale financing, providing the same reliable, economically attractive funding solution as the Bank’s existing SRP, with the additional benefit of eliminating the need for SRP partners to warehouse multiple receivables over a period of time (typically from five to 30 or more days). This enables the Bank’s SRP partners to finance individual loans within just hours, reducing the overall financing cost and the need for warehouse financing. It also further strengthens VersaBank’s exceptional risk mitigation capabilities by enabling the Bank to better leverage its own, internal AI platform through evaluation of the partner loans underlying the SRP receivables on an individual basis.

“VersaBank’s Real-Time Structured Receivable Program takes our unique and highly successful digital point-of-sale financing solution to a whole new level, further extending our competitive advantage and, more importantly, significantly expanding the addressable market for our SRP on both sides of the border,” said David Taylor, Founder and President, VersaBank. “In Canada, we expect the launch of our Real-Time SRP to enable us to win additional financing business with our existing partners while enabling us to acquire new partners with more specialized financing needs that we were previously unable to address. In the United States, where our current SRP has been very well received by the point-of-sale industry and demand is exceeding our expectations, the addition of real-time capability will enable us to further capture market share from securitized financing providers, expanding our growth potential there.”

Mr. Taylor continued, “Our Real-Time SRP is yet another in our long track record of firsts in the banking industry. We are, as we always have been, as much a software and technology company as we are a national, federally licensed bank. The Real-Time SRP is the result of our relentless pursuit of continuous innovation to address underserved markets in the banking industry based on our internally developed, proprietary core banking software, which is now being supercharged by the addition of our own AI technology.”

“We are especially proud to be bringing this cutting-edge innovation to this time in support of both the Canadian Federal Government’s and the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions’ stated desire to support the economic activity of both small business and consumers.”

“VersaBank’s Real-Time SRP is a game changer. The ability to instantly finance individual loans significantly enhances the efficiency and economics of our long-standing strategic relationship with VersaBank and is aligned with our own long term innovation objectives.” said Casper Wong, CEO of FinanceIt. “For more than a decade, VersaBank’s Structured Receivable Program has been foundational to our growth and success. We look forward to the significant additional benefits that the Real-Time SRP will generate for our business.”

ABOUT VERSABANK’S STRUCTURED RECEIVABLE PROGRAM

VersaBank’s Structured Receivable Program (“SRP”) is an innovative and highly attractive digital funding solution for finance companies that lend money to consumers and small businesses for what are typically “big ticket” purchases (e.g. consumer home improvement/HVAC projects and a wide variety of commercial equipment). It was specifically designed to address an unmet need in the market for consistently available, readily accessible financing with economically attractive capital designed to maximize return on equity while employing VersaBank’s proprietary, state-of-the-art banking technology.

As of January 31, 2026, VersaBank’s SRP portfolio exceeded CAD$4.4 billion (US$3.2 billion) and has grown at a compounded annual rate of 33% over the last five years. The Bank’s SRP was launched into the United States in late fiscal 2024 and completed US$310 million in fundings in its first year, surpassing the Bank’s first year target of US$290 million. Since VersaBank’s RPP was first launched 2010, the Bank has provided more than CAD$14 billion (US$10 billion) in funding to North American financing companies. The SRP is designed to provide scalable, capital‑efficient growth for the Bank with strong credit performance and attractive risk‑adjusted returns.

ABOUT VERSABANK

VersaBank is a North American bank with a difference. Federally chartered in both Canada and the U.S., VersaBank has a branchless, digital, business-to-business model based on its proprietary state-of-the-art technology that enables it to profitably address underserved segments of the banking industry in a significantly risk mitigated manner. Because VersaBank obtains substantially all of its deposits and undertakes the majority of its funding activities electronically through financial intermediary partners, it benefits from significant operating leverage that drives efficiency and return on common equity. In August 2024, VersaBank launched its unique Structured Receivable Program funding solution for point-of-sale finance companies, which has been highly successful in Canada for over 15 years, to the underserved multi-trillion-dollar U.S. market. VersaBank also owns Minnesota-based DRT Cyber Inc., a North American leader in the provision of cyber security services to address the rapidly growing volume of cyber threats challenging financial institutions, multi-national corporations and government entities. Through DRT Cyber Inc., VersaBank owns proprietary intellectual property and technology to enable the next generation of digital assets for the banking and financial community, including the Bank’s revolutionary and proprietary Real Bank Tokenized DepositsTM.

VersaBank’s common shares trade on the Toronto Stock Exchange and NASDAQ under the symbol VBNK.

Visit our website at: www.versabank.com

Follow VersaBank on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and X.

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SOURCE VersaBank

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LTS Expands CDMO Portfolio with Ophthalmic Drug Delivery Solutions

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ANDERNACH, Germany, April 29, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LTS LOHMANN Therapie-Systeme AG (“LTS”), a leading pharmaceutical technology company specializing in advanced drug delivery systems, today announced the expansion of its service portfolio to include CDMO services for ophthalmic drug delivery solutions, with manufacturing capacities located in the United States at LTS’ Lakewood, New Jersey facility.

The new offering focuses initially on product development through clinical manufacturing of sterile ophthalmic products, filled in preservative–free multidose devices. Leveraging its established commercial aseptic manufacturing capabilities in nasal sprays and vials, LTS is well positioned to meet the high quality and regulatory demands of ophthalmic treatments, including products for chronic and acute eye conditions.

Building on decades of experience in drug delivery technologies, LTS ultimately plans to offer end–to–end CDMO services for ophthalmic drug products, ranging from formulation development through commercial manufacturing. All activities will be conducted in compliance with global regulatory standards, supporting both U.S. and international market requirements.

“Ophthalmic drug delivery presents unique challenges in terms of sterility, efficacy, and patient safety,” said Bas van Buijtenen, CEO at LTS. “Our aseptic manufacturing capabilities in Lakewood, are the perfect foundation to build industry-leading CDMO capabilities and capacity for ophthalmics, powering the future of drug delivery in this field in North America. We look forward to extending our purpose – We CARE. We CREATE. We DELIVER -towards an even wider group of customers, therapies and patients.”

The expanded CDMO services are intended to support pharmaceutical and biotech companies seeking a reliable U.S.-based manufacturing partner for ophthalmic drug delivery solutions. By combining development expertise, sterile manufacturing infrastructure, and a strong quality culture, LTS aims to act as a long–term partner across the entire product lifecycle.

This portfolio expansion reflects LTS’s strategic commitment to continuously broaden its technology and service offerings and to address growing demand for specialized drug delivery solutions in sensitive therapeutic areas.

About LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme AG
At LTS, our purpose drives everything we do: We CARE for patients, our partners, employees and communities, we CREATE innovative drug delivery solutions, and we DELIVER high-quality products to global markets with an exceptional track record in commercial manufacturing. As a global CDMO, we offer end-to-end development and manufacturing services for pharmaceutical and biotech companies.

Our technology portfolio spans transdermal patches, oral thin films, nasal and sterile drug delivery products, wearable drug delivery devices as well as microneedle array patches. With over 40 commercial products and 50+ active development programs, we combine deep expertise with patient-centric innovation to advance small molecules, biologics, and vaccines.
Operating from five global sites in the US, Germany and Israel and a representative office in China, LTS powers the future of drug delivery.

For further information, please contact:

LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme AG
Dr Iris Schnitzler: iris.schnitzler@ltslohmann.com
+492632-992589

SOURCE LTS Lohmann Therapie-Systeme AG

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