VersaBank (“VersaBank” or the “Bank”) (TSX: VBNK) (NASDAQ: VBNK), a leader in digital banking and cyber security solutions, today announced successful completion of the independent third-party System and Organization Controls (“SOC2”) – Type I audit (the “SOC2 Audit”) of its VersaVault®, VersaBank’s proprietary security technology for blockchain-based assets, which underpins the Bank’s revolutionary Digital Deposit Receipts (“DDRs”).

The voluntary SOC2 Audit, which was conducted by a national full-service audit, chartered professional accountancy and business advisory firm (the “Audit Firm”), verified the non-financial reporting controls, relating to security, availability, processing integrity, confidentiality and privacy of VersaVault®.  With the completion of the SOC2 Audit, VersaBank is preparing for commercial launch of its first Digital Deposit Receipt, VCAD, based on Canadian dollar deposits with the Bank.

“SOC2 is the gold standard in validating operational controls for critical software systems and represents another important point of differentiation for our Digital Deposit Receipts, which to our knowledge are the first of their kind in the world – highly encrypted digital assets based on actual one-for-one deposits with our A-rated federally licensed Bank,” said David Taylor, President and Chief Executive Officer, VersaBank.  “While the SOC2 Audit took longer than expected to complete due to pandemic-related logistical matters, we believe its long-term value to be immeasurable.  For potential customers, it provides even greater confidence in our Digital Deposit Receipts as a store of value and all of the functionality of a digital currency providing an ideal medium for digital financial transactions.  And, as importantly, we believe it very favourably positions our Digital Deposit Receipts in a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

In addition, VersaBank, a fully qualified custodian for digital assets, is now SOC2 compliant for its secure and inherently private, digital asset custody and secure storage VersaVault® platform. Customers can leverage VersaVault® to securely and privately store and manage their digital assets themselves or entrust VersaBank to custody the digital assets for them.

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The SOC2 Audit follows several months of successful closed ecosystem testing of VersaBank’s DDRs, undertaken with VersaBank’s blockchain technology partner Stablecorp, which included both Canadian dollar-denominated DDRs (“VCAD”) and US dollar-denominated DDRs (“VUSD”) on the Stellar, Algorand and Ethereum blockchains, as well as testing with a Receipt Distributor, who will become one of the primary distributors of the Bank’s DDRs at commercial launch.