- Average number of accounts and deposit fees increase 75% and 49%, respectively, compared to Q1 2022 -

- Strong growth trend supports cash flow, national expansion, and lending program initiatives -  

GOLDEN, Colo., April 11, 2023 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- SHF Holdings, Inc., d/b/a/ Safe Harbor Financial (“Safe Harbor” or the “Company”) (NASDAQ: SHFS), a leader in facilitating financial services and credit facilities to the regulated cannabis industry, today provided an update on the significant growth the Company has achieved across its key performance metrics for the first quarter ending March 31, 2023 (“Q1 2023”).

Q1 2023 Performance:

• Monthly average number of accounts held with our financial institution clients increased 75% to 1018, compared to 581 in Q1 2022
• Monthly average deposit fees increased 49% to $706,728, compared to $475,829 in Q1 2022
• Monthly average balances on deposit held with our financial institution clients increased 57% to $222.9 million, compared to $141.8 million in Q1 2022
• Monthly average deposits held with our financial institution clients increased 33% to $359.1 million, compared to $269.5 million Q1 2022

“Our performance thus far demonstrates both impressive year-over-year growth and underscores the potential stakeholder value we can build in 2023 and beyond,” said Sundie Seefried, Chief Executive Officer of Safe Harbor. “Executing on each of these metrics has a compounding effect on our business: increasing the number of accounts held with our financial institution clients translates to an expanding national footprint, while growing deposit fee income supports continued cash flow generation from operations. Finally, the remarkable growth in deposit balances held with our financial institution clients will enable us to execute on our lending strategy, which we expect will, in turn, increase both our profitability and customer retention rates. We are confident that this flywheel effect will be a key business driver for years to come, and we are looking forward to building on this momentum with new financial product and service offerings.”

About Safe Harbor
Safe Harbor is among the first service providers to offer compliance, monitoring and validation services to financial institutions, providing traditional banking services to cannabis, hemp, CBD, and ancillary operators, making communities safer, driving growth in local economies, and fostering long-term partnerships. Currently managing more than 1000 cannabis-related relationships, Safe Harbor, through its financial institution clients, implements high standards of accountability, transparency, monitoring, reporting and risk mitigation measures while meeting Bank Secrecy Act obligations in line with FinCEN guidance on cannabis-related businesses. Over the past eight years, Safe Harbor has facilitated more than $18 billion in deposit transactions for businesses with operations spanning over 40 states and US territories with regulated cannabis markets. For more information, visit www.shfinancial.org.

Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained in this press release constitute "forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements with respect to trends in the cannabis industry, including proposed changes in U.S and state laws, rules, regulations and guidance relating to Safe Harbor's services; Safe Harbor's growth prospects and Safe Harbor's market size; Safe Harbor's projected financial and operational performance, including relative to its competitors; new product and service offerings Safe Harbor may introduce in the future; the impact of recent volatility in the capital markets, which may adversely affect the price of the Company's securities; the outcome of any legal proceedings that may be instituted against Safe Harbor; other statements regarding Safe Harbor's expectations, hopes, beliefs, intentions or strategies regarding the future; and the other risk factors discussed in Safe Harbor's filings from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission. In addition, any statements that refer to projections, forecasts or other characterizations of future events or circumstances, including any underlying assumptions, are forward-looking statements. The words "anticipate," "believe," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intends," "outlook," "may," "might," "plan," "possible," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "would," and similar expressions may identify forward-looking statements, but the absence of these words does not mean that a statement is not forward-looking. Forward-looking statements are predictions, projections and other statements about future events that are based on current expectations and assumptions and, as a result, are subject, are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties (some of which are beyond the control of Safe Harbor), and other assumptions, that may cause the actual results or performance to be materially different from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements.

Media Contact
Safe Harbor Financial
Nick Callaio, Marketing Manager
720.951.0619
Nick@SHFinancial.org

Investor Relations Contact
Mattio Communications
ir@mattio.com