UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(Mark One)

☒	ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022

☐	TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission file number: 000-27569

AppTech Payments Corp.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

Delaware		7389		66-0847995
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)

5876 Owens Avenue

Suite 100

Carlsbad, California 92008

(760) 707-5959

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant’s principal executive offices)

Luke D’Angelo

Chief Executive Officer

5876 Owens Avenue

Suite 100

Carlsbad, California 92008

(760) 707-5959

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of each class	Trading Symbol(s)	Name of each exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.0095 par value per share	APCX	Nasdaq Capital Market
Warrants, each whole warrant exercisable for one share of common stock at an exercise price of $5.19	APCXW	Nasdaq Capital Market

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Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. Yes ☐ No ☒

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files). Yes ☒ No ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” “smaller reporting company,” and “emerging growth company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer	☐	Accelerated filer	☐

Non-accelerated filer	☒	Smaller reporting company	☒

		Emerging growth company	☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management’s assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report. ☐

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements of the registrant included in the filing reflect the correction of an error to previously issued financial statements. ☐

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant to §240.10D-1(b). ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). Yes ☐ No ☒

As of June 30, 2022, the last business day of the registrant’s last completed second quarter, the aggregate market value of the common stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was approximately $8,270,261, based on the closing price of the registrant’s common stock, on June 30, 2022, as reported by the Nasdaq Capital Market. For the purposes of this disclosure, shares of common stock held by each executive officer, director and stockholder known by the registrant to be affiliated with such individuals based on public filings and other information known to the registrant have been excluded since such persons may be deemed affiliates. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination for other purposes.

As of March 20, 2023, the registrant had 18,438,947 shares of common stock issued and outstanding.

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AppTech Payments Corp.

Form 10-K

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		Page
	Part I
	Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements and Projections	4
Item 1.	Business	5
Item 1A.	Risk Factors	12
Item 1B.	Unresolved Staff Comments	12
Item 2.	Properties	12
Item 3.	Legal Proceedings	12
Item 4.	Mine Safety Disclosures	12

	Part II
Item 5.	Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities	13
Item 6.	Reserved	13
Item 7.	Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations	13
Item 7A.	Qualitative and Quantitative Disclosures about Market Risk	20
Item 8.	Financial Statements and Supplementary Data	20
Item 9.	Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure	20
Item 9A.	Controls and Procedures	20
Item 9B.	Other Information	21
Item 9C.	Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that	21

	Part III
Item 10.	Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance	22
Item 11.	Executive Compensation	22
Item 12.	Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters	22
Item 13.	Certain Relationships and Related Transactions and Director Independence	23
Item 14.	Principal Accountant Fees and Services	23

	Part IV
Item 15.	Exhibits and Financial Statements Schedules	24
Item 16.	Form 10-K Summary	24

Index to Financial Statements		25
Exhibit Inde		50
Signatures		53

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PART I

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS AND PROJECTIONS

Various statements in this report of AppTech Payments Corp. are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements involve substantial risks and uncertainties. All statements, other than statements of historical facts, included in this report regarding our strategy, future operations, future financial position, future revenues, projected costs, prospects, plans and objectives of management are forward-looking statements. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties and are based on information currently available to our management. Words such as “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “may,” “plan,” “contemplates,” “predict,” “project,” “target,” “likely,” “potential,” “continue,” “ongoing,” “will,” “would,” “should,” “could,” or the negative of these terms and similar expressions or words, identify forward-looking statements. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in our forward-looking statements.

You should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. The cautionary statements set forth in this prospectus identify important factors which you should consider in evaluating our forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to, the following:

	●	uncertainty associated with anticipated launch of our text payment platform and other potential advanced payment solutions we intend to launch in the future;

	●	substantial investment and costs associated with new potential revenue streams and their corresponding contractual obligations;

	●	dependence on third-party channel and referral partners, who comprise a significant portion of our sales force, for gaining new clients;

	●	a slowdown or reduction in our sales in due to a reduction in end user demand, unanticipated competition, regulatory issues, or other unexpected circumstances;

	●	uncertainty regarding adverse macroeconomic conditions, including inflation, a recession, changes to fiscal and monetary policy, tighter credit, higher interest rates, consumer confidence and spending, and high unemployment;

	●	dependence on third-party payment processors to facilitate our merchant services capabilities;

	●	delay in or failure to obtain regulatory approval of our text payment system or any future products in additional countries;

	●	current and future laws and regulations; and

	●	general economic uncertainty associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, its unpredictable duration, in regions where we have customers, employees and distributors and the possibility that the economic impact will lead to changes in how consumers make purchases that we are unable to monetize.

All written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or any person acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. We caution investors not to rely too heavily on the forward-looking statements we make or that are made on our behalf. We undertake no obligation and specifically decline any obligation, to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Please see, however, any further disclosures we make on related subjects in any annual, quarterly or current reports that we may file with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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We encourage you to read the discussion and analysis of our financial condition and our consolidated financial statements contained both in our Form S-1 that was filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on January 3, 2022 and in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. There can be no assurance that we will in fact achieve the actual results or developments we anticipate or, even if we do substantially realize them, that they will have the expected consequences to, or effects on, us. Therefore, we can give no assurances that we will achieve the outcomes stated in those forward-looking statements and estimates.

Unless the context otherwise requires, throughout this Annual Report on Form 10-K, the words “AppTech Payments,” “we,” “us,” the “registrant” or the “Company” refer to AppTech Payments Corp.

Item 1. Business

Business Overview

The financial services industry is going through a period of intensive change driven by the advancement of technology and the rapid rise of contactless transactions due to societal changes, in part, as a response to COVID-19. End-users expect ease of use and an enhanced user experience in all their daily financial interactions. In this rapidly evolving digital marketplace, businesses have broad and frequently changing requirements to meet consumer expectations and operational efficiencies to maintain their competitive edge.

To survive and succeed in this environment, businesses need to adopt new technologies to engage, communicate and process payments and manage payouts with their customers from a supplier that widely supports innovation and adaptation as the industry evolves. We believe our technologies will greatly increase the adoption of omni-channel payments and digital banking solutions in sectors that must quickly adapt and migrate to new, secure digital Fintech technologies. By embracing advancements in the payment and banking industries, we are well-positioned to meet the growing needs of existing and prospective clients and intend for our current and future products to be at the forefront of solving these accelerated market needs.

AppTech’s all-new, innovative Fintech platform, “Commerse™” officially launched in October 2022. The platform delivers best-in-class financial technologies and capabilities through an ever-evolving modular cloud/edge-based architecture. The Commerse platform houses a large array of financial products and services that can be implemented off-the-shelf or customized via modern APIs. Within its Commerse platform, AppTech offers three primary products: Payments-as-a-Service (“PaaS”), Banking-as-a-Service (“BaaS”), and Commerce-as-a-Service (“CXS”).

Commerse provides PaaS via integrated solutions for frictionless digital and mobile payment acceptance. These solutions provide advanced payment processing solutions for credit cards, ACH, and gift/loyalty cards by catering to the unique needs of each merchant. PaaS will also solve for multi-use case, multi-channel, API-driven, account-based issuer processing for card, digital tokens, and payment transfer transactions.

AppTech is positioned to further accelerate digital transformation through BaaS, layered with financial management tools that empower financial institutions to provide businesses, professionals, and individuals with the ability to better manage their finances anywhere, anytime at a fraction of the cost of traditional banking and financial services. BaaS creates an ecosystem of immersive and scalable digital financial management services backed by Mastercard & Visa processing certifications.

Commerse has a flexible architecture to allow for rich, personalized payment and banking experiences. This first-to-market, cloud-based CXS platform packages together elements of AppTech’s intellectual property, BaaS, PaaS and other related technologies to create seamless interactions throughout the customer journey.

The platform also incorporates AppTech’s core, patented text payment and geofence triggered ecommerce and/or advertising via cell phone capabilities delivering experiences that focus on frictionless use cases and end-users desire for payment transaction simplicity, control, and comfort. The Company believes that these features will be particularly beneficial for unbanked and under-banked in developing or emerging markets where access to the internet on a mobile device and modern banking institutions may not be readily available. Particularly by extending merchants’ marketplace capabilities via new channels to request and receive frictionless, digital payments and engaging end-users by utilizing a familiar, convenient, and widely adopted technology.

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AppTech’s innovative Commerse platform delivers scalable solutions for automated and embedded, customizable business and consumer experiences. These experiences propel business growth, create value and drive operational efficiencies for businesses while providing economic convenience for end users.

Corporate Information

AppTech Corp. reincorporated in Delaware on December 23, 2021 and changed its name to AppTech Payments Corp. The Company’s principal executive offices are located at 5876 Owens Avenue, Suite 100, Carlsbad, California 92008. Its phone number is (760) 707-5959. Its website address is www.apptechcorp.com. AppTech does not incorporate the information on or accessible through our website into this prospectus. AppTech has included our website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference.

Industry Background

The financial technology and payment processing industries are an integral part of today’s worldwide financial structure. The electronic payments industry is massive, with growth fueled by powerful long-term trends that continue to increase the acceptance and use of electronic payments compared to paper-based payments. According to The Nilson Report, purchase volume on credit, debit and prepaid cards in the United States is estimated to reach nearly $10.4 trillion by 2027, a compound annual growth rate, or CAGR, of 6.1%.^[1]

According to American Banker, the banking and financial services incumbents are failing to compete on customer experience, which is a weakness Fintechs are very successfully exploiting.^[2] In fact, based on a 2019 PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Fintech Report, industry executives believe that 25% or more of their business could be at risk of being lost to standalone Fintechs within five years.^[3] Furthermore, according to Allied Market Research, the global digital banking platform market size is projected to reach $10.87 billion by 2027, growing at a CAGR of 13.6% from 2020 to 2027.^[4] All of this research and expert opinion provides a clear picture of the opportunities ahead for Fintechs that can provide innovative commerce solutions and experiences that resonate with clients, their customers and the market as a whole.

According to a Walker report, customer experience will overtake price and product features as the key brand differentiator this year. Moreover, according to research from PricewaterhouseCoopers, an immersive and engaging customer experience drives more customer spending.^[5] In fact, 86% of buyers are willing to pay more when immersed in a great customer experience – Experience outweighs cost.

The payment processing industry continues to evolve rapidly based on the application of new technology and changing customer needs. Changes in technology have allowed for new payment methods, such as mobile and contactless payments, which is driving demand for new innovative solutions to meet consumer expectations. This results in businesses increasingly being required to deliver new, convenient methods of interacting with their customers to ensure loyalty and repeat business. As consumers continue to integrate mobile devices into their lives, there will be increased demand to conduct business on these devices. According to Global Industry Analysts, the global mobile payment market was valued at $1,449.56 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach over $5,399.6 billion in 2026 with growth at a CAGR of 24.5% over the forecast period (2021 – 2026).^[6]

GSMA Intelligence reported in 2019 that globally, there are more than 9.2 billion mobile connections and 5.1 billion mobile subscribers with text messaging capabilities.^[7]Statista asserted that just over 3.9 billion of these devices have access to mobile internet.^[8]

^[1] Nilson Report – Payment Cards in the U.S. Projected, October 2020.

^[2] American Banker and Monigle, Humanizing the Bank Customer Experience, 2021.

^[3] PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP– Global Fintech Report, 2019.

^[4]Allied Market Research – Digital Banking Platform Market Size to Hit $10.87 Billion by 2027, at 13.6% CAGR, October 2020.

^[5] Walker Resources – Customers 2020: A Progress Report.

^[6] Global Industry Analysts – Consumer Mobile Payments – Global Market Trajectory and Analytics, October 2021.

^[7] GSM Association – The State of Mobile Internet Connectivity 2019.

^[8] Statista Research Department – Mobile Internet Usage Worldwide – Statistics and Facts, July 2021.

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Our Competitive Strengths

We believe our adaptable technology stack and product offerings differentiate us from our competitors. Our products and solutions help to eliminate much of our sector’s reliance on legacy payment rails and financial systems. The design and delivery are not being restricted by antiquated foundational technology. Management believes the applicability and frictionless nature of our products will offer an immediate impact on the digital financial services industry. Further, the solutions we intend to deliver to our clients will be driven off user-centered design principles to providing seamless, best-in-class experiences to the end-user.

Digital transformation is complex for most companies sighting such concerns around shifting company culture, legacy systems, rigidity of platforms and processes, inefficiencies in skill sets and knowledge. Additionally, even when these companies see the value in digital transformation, often these companies face an inability to properly shift resources to new technology while maintaining customers on existing platforms. Non-discretionary spend required to “keep the lights on” outweighs leadership’s ability to invest in future technology, which results in vulnerabilities and competitive threats.

Our financial services platform will empower our clients with an extensible, adaptable framework capable of dynamically solving challenges found across the financial services industry. Further, this ability will allow us to drive deeply and expediently into specific market segments to solve problems that we find to be a continued burden on our client’s and their customer base. Based on market, client and end-user research and discovery, it is expected that these unique solutions produced for client’s will be highly leverageable across these segments to deliver experiences at scale while producing rapid revenue and profitability.

As we increase our client base and deployment of solutions to meet our client’s specifications, we’ll continue to grow these “off-the-shelf” experiences that will ultimately lower our development costs while increasing speed to market. In addition, we are positioned to utilize this model to grow industry partnerships and app marketplace plugins thus further leveraging our capabilities and market reach.

Founded on a modern core platform backed by an intelligent financial technology framework, our ability to rapidly deploy solutions and experiences that are otherwise cumbersome, expensive and often fall short of expectations will prove successful. Once launched, our position is to penetrate deep into certain segments to build a model that will directly drive growth. Gaining robust insights in these segments while delivering best-in-class experiences will also produce future opportunities to expand our off-the-shelf solutions to other verticals or sub-verticals that are challenged with solving similar problems.

While our core foundational platform will continue to adapt and grow based on new innovations, we are launching into the market an extremely robust and innovative set of secure digital banking and payments features and functionality. This will allow us to quickly deliver the future of digital finance to meet the demands of the markets we intend to serve without the deployment burdens encumbering the market today.

Additionally, the patent protection for some of our products is uncommon within the Fintech industry. This protection prevents competitors from replicating our products to carve away at our anticipated market share. Therefore, backing our text payment and lead generation products with patents strengthens the viability of such products by limiting direct competition and strengthening strategic partnerships. It is expected that we will also expand our patent portfolio through new innovations and acquisitions.

Our patent protected text payment system’s anticipated capabilities also set us apart. By creating a product that permits mobile payments without the need for a data plan, internet or an application -after an initial account is established-, we will have the unique ability to extend our customer base to target unbanked and underbanked individuals primarily in developing or emerging markets. Integrating consumers that are not traditionally included in the payment space will allow us to have a larger potential market than many of our competitors.

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Our Growth Strategy

We intend to grow by leveraging our existing IP, continually developing products and solutions, establishing strategic partnerships and seeking selective acquisitions that uniquely complement our core business to meet growing market demand. From traditional merchant accounts to customizable inbound and outbound payment solutions, we intend to modernize and enhance the payment processing and digital banking capabilities for businesses throughout the world. Our business objective is to generate revenue based on licensing and subscription fees, transactional processing fees, product line growth, and continual advancement of our IP portfolio.

Our target market is forward-thinking financial institutions, technology companies, and SMEs seeking to broaden their distribution through the addition of digital omnichannel payments and digital banking technologies. We will serve these markets by reducing integration complexity and streamlining their integrated financial services capabilities.

SMEs generally lack the resources of large enterprises to invest heavily in technology. As a result, they are more dependent on service providers, like AppTech, to handle critical functions including payment acceptance and other support services and are likely to be early adopters of new services that will further increase their efficiency and drive growth. Additionally, we are targeting financial institutions looking to maintain their ability to compete by digitizing their financial services offerings to meet market demand. By enhancing their customer’s user experience through the development of innovative and user centric multi-channel, multi-currency, digital financial products, they will be able to maintain customer loyalty.

We intend to support a multi-method distribution model to achieve our vision. By providing delivery flexibility, we can rapidly engage and develop the right go-to-market strategies. As previously mentioned, not only are off-the-shelf solutions available, but we also offer embedded experiences that can be deployed using a growing portfolio of Open and Private APIs for developers to build unique experiences based on business cases and requirements.

Further, by offering clients a full array of marketing technology services, omnichannel payments and digital banking technologies, we will enable them to better interact with their customers and provide additional, dynamic means of processing both inbound and outbound financial transactions.

Businesses’ financial technology needs are increasingly complex. As electronic and mobile commerce continues to grow, businesses have no alternative but to use technology to better meet customer’s expectations. We believe that delivering innovative, adaptive, scalable, and operationally efficient products that meet their financial services needs will result in rapid market penetration for our anticipated products launches.

While leveraging new technology is vital to our growth plan, it is equally important that the technology is relevant and seamlessly fits into and benefits our end-user’s daily lives. Consumers are sometimes reluctant to alter their typical routines, especially when it relates to financial services. The anticipated launch of our text payment system and broader digital banking and payments solutions will meet both needs. We will offer financial technologies that do not rely on legacy rails, thus increasing the opportunity to improve the end-user’s digital experiences. Once properly developed and rolled out, we anticipate rapid adoption.

We seek to grow our business by pursuing the following strategies:

	●	Increasing our customer base by offering unique and compelling, patent protected technology solutions;

	●	Driving growth in our merchant services business through new and flexible technologies, including our secure text payment system, that will enable our customers to adapt to a rapidly changing marketplace;

	●	Rolling-out our API-driven, account-based, issuer processing solution for card, digital token, and payment transfer transactions that will enable us to target multi-currency and multi-channel digital banking and embedded B2B payment opportunities;

	●	Providing advanced technology to our clients to engage end-users via lead generation and text marketing services to enable businesses to better communicate with their customers and integrate our full suite of products;

	●	Maintaining technological leadership by continuing to innovate and improve our scalable, extensible, cloud-based technology;

	●	Pursuing strategic acquisitions, investments, or partnerships to complement and bolster our suite of Fintech products;

	●	Creating cross-selling synergies through white-labeling or SaaS distribution enabling us to provide a holistic suite of products and services to financial institutions, technology companies, and SMEs;

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Our market growth strategies will focus on the following elements: (1) new product development and delivery (2) market penetration (3) market expansion (4) IP, strategic acquisitions, and partnerships.

It is imperative that upon entrance into the market with the new platform, we focus on delivering an enhanced experience to our existing digital client base. As we roll this out, we will also continue discussions with our current and continually evolving pipeline of prospects to understand these opportunities and the value that we can bring to solve their needs. This strategy also provides growth opportunities with these clients, increases customer satisfaction and potential referrals, and produces valuable feedback into our product prioritization and roadmap.

Maintaining focus to deliver our technology to selective target market segments also allows us to deliver a deeper, more targeted set of solutions and experiences. In turn this will grow our knowledge within these select segments that will translate into further innovation and market penetration.

This continual development process will contribute to our overall strategy of delivering new, innovative technologies and solutions. It is expected that bringing these to market will expand opportunities in complimentary and new market segments. Given the Platform’s flexibility and a la carte capabilities, adapting these solutions and delivering new experiences is a core tenant to growth.

In addition, core to our values and strategy is the opportunity for growth through intellectual property. This is inclusive of the existing patent portfolio while also coupled with future innovation. It is also important to continually evaluate new technologies, market entrants and complimentary solutions to ensure continued growth. We expect that this will include strategic acquisitions of complimentary offerings and portfolio customers, while also focusing on strategic partnerships where we find synergy in our vision.

With years of Fintech experience and a deep understanding of the industry, management believes we can leverage this expertise, industry contacts and past clients to accelerate market penetration. Engaging individuals with the ability to integrate our products may prove invaluable. Further, through our channel partnerships, we have an expansive network of potential clients that continue to show interest in our strategy and opportunity to embed our financial technologies into their solutions.

Management believes there are substantial opportunities in emerging and developing markets for our anticipated products. Our mobile payment and digital banking solutions offer innovative avenues to unbanked and underbanked communities to transact and provide remittances. Further, since internet connectivity is not required for our text payment solution, individuals with limited internet access will still be able to transact. These two factors could open our products to markets with immense growth potential.

With our in-house expertise and our internationally experienced and proven team of subject matter experts via our partnership with Infinios Financial Services BSC’s (formally NEC Payments B.S.C.), we are focused on resources on delivering growth using the strategies described above. Both teams operate together in full confidence that the business is being powered by innovative technology IP running on robust, secure and scalable cloud infrastructure. We expect to continue the innovative development of the core platform while also developing alongside targeted market segments and clients to deliver productized, secure and scalable solutions and experiences.

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Our Products and Services

We are developing and preparing to deploy a digital-first Fintech platform that empowers financial institutions and enterprise brands to deliver “best-of-breed” B2B and B2C experiences through our revolutionary platform and deployment model. Our modular platform will seamlessly integrate with legacy and cloud platforms to power a multitude of commerce experiences, including digital payments, financial wellness and more.

Merchant Services

Our core historical business is merchant transaction services. We create revenue by processing payments for credit and debit cards via POS (point of sale) equipment, e-commerce gateways, periodic ACH (automatic clearing house) payments and gift & loyalty programs. We currently support over 100 merchants representing dozens of market verticals in managing their financial transactions.

Each merchant has unique needs for payment processing. As a result, we have a variety of processing partners to meet each merchant’s requirements. In addition to these needs, we take into consideration certain aspects of each business in choosing the optimal processing partner including risk, volume, customer service, integration capabilities, product features and profitability.

Our processing partners include Total Systems Services (“TSYS”)/Global Payments., JetPay an NCR Payment Solutions Company, Harbortouch Payments a Shift4 Company, Cynergy Data/Priority Payments Systems Group, FIS, Nuvei, and Cardconnect/Fiserv Inc., with each providing products and services that meet each of our merchants’ needs. Currently, our partners manage our backend payment processing needs in addition to managing risk and compliance on our behalf. Through the implementation of our proprietary payment processing protocols as we grow our customer base and technology, we expect to manage the risk and compliance ourselves, which will increase our margins on each transaction processed.

Digital Financial Technology Platform consisting of Omnichannel Payments and Digital Banking

To power commerce experiences, our digital financial technology platform (the “Platform”) is being, in part, licensed from Infinios and incorporates two distinct product pillars: (1) omnichannel payments featuring patented SMS text payment technology and (2) digital banking capabilities including multi-currency solutions, hyper-segmented savings accounts, buy now, pay later (“BNPL”) and next generation card issuance. The omnichannel payments pillar will consist of several stand-alone solutions, including hosted ecommerce checkout, a flexible payment gateway, patented text payment technology, digital wallets, alternative payment methods (APMs), as well as mobile and contactless payments. The Platform’s digital banking pillar will supply financial institutions with technology to give their customers – businesses, professionals, and individuals the ability to better manage their finances anywhere, anytime and at a fraction of the cost of traditional banking and financial services.

Developing and deploying embedded commerce experiences runs atop the Platform stack. This will include 1) open and private payment and digital banking APIs, 2) select third-party APIs centered on personalization and automation, 3) UI/UX blueprints and design assets 4) online collaboration and development tools, and 5) optional professional services engagement and support.

Similar to experience-focused offerings, our Platform powers immersive content, conversion, marketing automation, payment, and value transfer capabilities for nearly every online and offline shopping, banking, and financial services scenario. Additionally, our Platform experiences can be taken off-the-shelf or tapped into via modern APIs to build and embed fully branded and customizable experiences.

In many cases, our products and services are both available off-the-shelf or through embedded commerce experiences. For example, our patented text payment capabilities can be licensed off-the-shelf, so our clients can take advantage of quick market entry while doing this without any lifting or technical requirements. Alternatively, text payment capabilities and feature sets are available via our open APIs so businesses can embed and customize the experience, i.e. alter the onboarding experience and subscription triggers.

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We believe text payment’s simple payment process has widespread application and potential for widespread adoption by mobile users because it utilizes a technology many end users are comfortable with and use daily. The process is quick and user-friendly allowing businesses to simply expand their payment receiving capabilities. The integration of direct, reliable, instant, and familiar text messaging with secure payments is a vital step in how we believe we bridge the gap between Fintech and mobile wireless systems.

Our white-label, digital banking technology platform with payment capabilities will equip financial institutions (Fis), technology providers and brands with a digital “bank-in-a-box” – also referred to as our Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) product. Furthermore, our Platform will enable multi-channel, multi-currency, pure digital financial services products unlike many other providers in the world. It incorporates a “plug-and-play” capability to facilitate deep integration with payment gateways, POS merchant services, alternative payment mechanisms, open-banking, ERP (“Enterprise Resource Planning”), CRM and web and mobile user interfaces to form an end-to-end, embedded, payment acceptance and digital banking solution that drives innovative and disruptive digital distribution products. Anticipated products include:

	●	Neo-Banking for consumers and SMEs;

	●	Embedded B2B and consumer virtual payments (VCNs);

	●	Multi-currency money management and P2P money transfer;

	●	Payroll, expenses, management and B2C and G2C disbursements;

	●	Treasury management;

	●	Gift, incentive and reward programs for retail, wholesale and employee benefits;

	●	Any other product that requires a prepaid or credit balance to be held and transacted upon.

Other attributes to our Platform will include:

	●	Patented Technology including a Text-to-Pay patent that enables B2B, B2C and P2P payments via SMS, mobile push, email and other forms of embedded links. Combined with four mobile-to-computer messaging and lead generation patents, we can enable financial institutions, technology companies and businesses to unlock innovative customer experiences.

	●	Personalization and User Experience are also at the core of our Platform. Through marketing automation capabilities, our Platform will provide an industry first online-to-offline customer attribution capability. Licensees of our Platform will be able to link their customer’s online behavior to their buying preferences in real-time in order to personalize the selling and buying experience, streamline checkout and improve conversion rates.

	●	Automation is delivered through our APIs to unlock automated financial transactions and customer experiences. For example, our Platform can be simply configured to create many types of automated customer benefits and incentives including instant cashback or added-value promotions. Further, our Platform will be easily leverageable to create similar money saving experiences like round ups, i.e., rounding to the nearest dollar and depositing the difference between the purchase price and round-up into a digital bank account.

	●	Integration and Embedded Payments are central functions of our Platform. As such, we offer developers and enterprises an open platform with flexible rest APIs to build new payment and financial transaction features in SaaS and cloud apps, or create compelling new digital financial services user experiences from scratch.

Our Platform continues to be developed including integration, testing and proper technical certifications before market readiness and client delivery. Management began beta testing the platform at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022. We expect that our Platform will continue to evolve as discussed to continually provide ongoing improvements, new features and functions and improved opportunities to deliver best in class experiences to the markets we serve.

Employees

As of the date of this annual report, we have twenty-three full-time employees. In addition to our employees, we utilize various consultants and contractors for other services on an as-needed basis.

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Item 1A. Risk Factors.

As a smaller reporting company, as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, we are not required to provide the information required by this Item.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

Not applicable.

Item 2. Properties

Our headquarters is located at 5876 Owens Avenue, Suite 100, Carlsbad, Ca 92008, consisting of approximately 3,000 square feet of office space. Our lease on this facility expires in February 2025. We anticipate that following the expiration of the lease, during the term of the current lease, depending on various factors, we will be able to lease or purchase additional or alternative space at commercially reasonable terms.

In September 2022, the Company opened a new office in Austin’s emerging tech hub to expand operations and foster growth. The one year lease is $11 thousand.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

On December 19, 2019, the Company entered into a settlement and release agreement with two shareholders. The total obligation was for $240 thousand and the final payment was made in March 2022. The litigants are now paid in full and no further action is warranted by the Company.

In July 2020, Flowpay Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Flowpay”), and R. Wayne Steiger, the President of Flowpay, having a non-binding Memorandum of Understanding (“MOU”) filed a lawsuit against AppTech Payments Corp. (formally “AppTech Corp.”) in the County of San Diego, State of California. The claims included breach of contract, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and unjust enrichment. Management believes the non-binding MOU terminated after no definite agreement was executed between the parties, and negotiations ceased December 20, 2016. On May 19, 2022, AppTech entered into a Settlement and Release Agreement (the “Settlement Agreement”) with Flowpay and Mr. Steiger. Under the terms of the Settlement Agreement, Flowpay and Mr. Steiger dismissed with prejudice all claims against the Company, its Chief Executive Officer, a Director and a third party individual.

On July 14, 2021, EMA Financial LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“EMAF”), filed a complaint in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York against the Company. In its complaint, EMAF alleged that AppTech breached the terms of a convertible note and a related warrant agreement purchased by EMAF pursuant to a securities purchase agreement between the parties.

On September 3, 2021, EMAF filed a motion for summary judgment. AppTech filed a motion to dismiss EMAF’s complaint in its entirety. On September 13, 2022, the court denied AppTech’s motion to dismiss, and granted EMAF’s motion for summary judgment in part and denied in part. In particular, the court granted EMA’s motion for summary judgment for its claim of breach of contract but denied its request for damages.

On December 8, 2022, the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York entered an order denying AppTech’s motion to dismiss and granted EMA’s motion for summary judgment and awarded damages to EMA for $1.2 million. On December 15, 2022, AppTech appealed the judgment to the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In January 2023, the Company secured a cash backed bond for $1.3 million for the appeal.

On November 30, 2022, AppTech filed a complaint against NCR Payment Solutions, LLC in the United States District Court for the Southern District of California alleging Breach of Contract, Breach of Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, Specific Performance and Accounting. The case is currently stayed in the Southern District of California as the parties take jurisdictional discovery. NCR has filed a motion to dismiss, motion to transfer venue and motion to compel arbitration.

ITEM 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

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PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Shareholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock has been registered with the SEC since 1999 and trading on the OTC Pink Open Market since 2010. We successfully uplisted to NASDAQ on January 7, 2022 under the symbol “APCX”. Our warrants are listed under the symbol “APCXW”.

Stockholder Data

As of March 20, 2023, 18,438,947 shares of our common stock were outstanding and held of record by 4,512 stockholders, and 14 shares of preferred stock were outstanding.

Dividends

We have not declared or paid any cash dividends on our common stock since our inception.

Equity Compensation Plan

For information regarding securities authorized under the equity compensation plan, see Item 12.

Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities

None.

Item 6. RESERVED

Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read together with the audited consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this registration statement. Certain statements contained in this registration statement, including statements regarding the anticipated development and expansion of our business, our intent, belief or current expectations, primarily with respect to the future operating performance of our company and the products and services we expect to offer and other statements contained herein regarding matters that are not historical facts, are “forward-looking” statements. Our Management’s Discussion and Analysis contains not only statements that are historical facts, but also forward-looking statements which involve risks, uncertainties, and assumptions. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, our actual results may differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements.

Business Overview

The financial services industry is going through a period of intensive change driven by the advancement of technology and the rapid rise of contactless transactions due to societal changes, in part, as a response to COVID-19. End-users expect ease of use and an enhanced user experience in all of their daily financial interactions. In this rapidly evolving digital marketplace, businesses face broad and ever-changing requirements to meet consumer expectations and achieve the operational efficiencies necessary to maintain a competitive edge.

To survive and succeed in this environment, businesses must adopt new technologies in order to engage, communicate, process payments, and manage payouts with their customers. They need a supplier who will widely support innovation and adaptation as the industry evolves. AppTech believes that its technologies will greatly increase the adoption of omni-channel payments and digital banking solutions in sectors that must adapt and migrate to new, secure digital Fintech technologies. By embracing advancements in the payment and banking industries, AppTech is well-positioned to meet the growing needs of existing and prospective clients and it intends for its current and future products to be at the forefront of solving these accelerated market needs.

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AppTech’s all-new, innovative Fintech platform, “Commerse™” officially launched in October 2022. The platform will deliver best-in-class financial technologies and capabilities through an ever-evolving modular cloud/edge-based architecture. The Commerse platform houses a large array of financial products and services that can be implemented off-the-shelf or customized via modern APIs. Within its Commerse platform, AppTech offers three primary products: Payments-as-a-Service (“PaaS”), Banking-as-a-Service(“BaaS”), and Commerce-as-a-Service (“CXS”).

Commerse has a flexible architecture to allow for rich, personalized payment and banking experiences. This first-to-market, cloud-based CXS platform packages together elements of AppTech’s intellectual property, BaaS, PaaS, and other related technologies to create seamless interactions throughout the customer journey.

The platform also incorporates AppTech’s core, patented text payment and geolocation-triggered ecommerce and/or advertising via cell phone capabilities delivering experiences that focus on frictionless use cases and end-users desire for payment transaction simplicity, control, and comfort. AppTech believes that these features will be particularly beneficial to the unbanked and under-banked in developing or emerging markets—where access to the internet on a mobile device and modern banking institutions may not be readily available—specifically by extending merchants’ marketplace capabilities via new channels to request and receive frictionless, digital payments and engaging end-users by utilizing a familiar, convenient, and widely adopted technology.

AppTech’s innovative Commerse platform delivers scalable solutions for automated and embedded, customizable business and consumer commerce experiences. These experiences propel business growth, create value and drive operational efficiencies for businesses while providing economic convenience for end users.

AppTech was reincorporated in Delaware on December 23, 2021. During this time, the business name was changed to AppTech Payments Corp. AppTech’s executive offices are located at 5876 Owens Avenue, Suite 100, Carlsbad, California 92008. The Company’s phone number is (760) 707-5959. The Company’s website address is www.apptechcorp.com. AppTech does not incorporate the information on or accessible through our website into this prospectus. The Company has included our website address in this prospectus solely as an inactive textual reference.

Financial Operations Overview

The following discussion sets forth certain components of our statements of operations as well as factors that impact those items.

Revenues

Revenues. Revenue is derived by providing financial processing services to businesses.

Expenses

Cost of Revenue. Cost of revenue includes costs directly attributable to processing and other services the company provides. These also include related costs such as residual payments to our business development partners, which are based on a percentage of the net revenue generated from client referrals.

General and administrative. General and administrative expenses include professional services, rent and utilities, and other operating costs.

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Research and development. Research and development costs include costs of acquiring patents and other unproven technologies, contractor fees and other costs associated with the development of the SMS short code texting platform, contract and outside services.

Interest expense, net. Our interest expense consists of interest on our outstanding indebtedness and amortization of debt issuance costs.

Results of Operations

This section includes a summary of our historical results of operations, followed by detailed comparisons of our results for years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. We have derived this data from our annual consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this registration statement.

Year Ended December 31, 2022

Compared to Year Ended December 31, 2021

(in thousands, except per share data)

The following table presents our historical results of operations for the periods indicated:

	Year ended December 31						Change
(in thousands)	2022			2021			Amount			%

Revenue	$	450		$	354		$	96			27	%
Cost of revenue		220			150			70			47	%
Gross profit		230			204			26			13	%

Operating expenses
General and administrative		7,966			8,399			(433	)		(5	)%
Excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received		904			68,956			(68,052	)		(99	)%
Research and development		7,557			169			7,388			4372	%
Total operating expenses		16,427			77,524			(73,726	)		(79	)%

Loss from operations		(16,197	)		(77,320	)		61,123			(79	)%

Other income (expenses)
Interest expense, net		(417	)		(3,111	)		2,694			(87	)%
Change in fair value of Derivative Liability		166			(26	)		192			(738	%)
Other income (expenses)		204			1,211			(1,007	)		(83	)%
Total other expenses		(47	)		(1,926	)	$	1,879			(98	)%

Loss before income taxes		(16,244	)		(79,246	)	$	63,002			(80	)%

Provision for income taxes		—			—			—			—

Net loss	$	(16,244	)	$	(79,246	)	$	63,002			(80	)%

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Revenue

Revenue was approximately $450 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $354 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 27%. The increase was principally driven by higher transaction volume and the boarding of additional merchant accounts.

Cost of Revenue

Cost of revenue was approximately $220 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $150 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 47%. The increase was principally driven by higher transaction volume and the boarding of additional merchant accounts.

General and Administrative Expenses

General and administrative expenses was approximately $8.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $8.4 million or the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of 5%. The decrease was primarily driven by a one time judgment purchase in fiscal year 2021 related to a settled lawsuit.

Excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received

Excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received expenses was approximately $904 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2022. In connection with the shares to be issued as part of the HotHand acquisition, and to be in compliance with its anti-dilution provision with Infiinios, the Company accrued an additional 39,706 shares of its common stock at $1.81 per share for a total of $72 thousand. The shares have not been issued to Infinios as of December 31, 2022.

Excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received expenses was approximately $69.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The excess fair value over assets occurring in 2021 was a one-time event that was due to the timing of the share issuance to Infinios. The shares were issued on a day that the fair value of our common stock closed at $3.75 per share. Approximately 18 million shares were issued, so the difference between the value of the newly issued shares and the value of the services performed was expensed as excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received. See Note 4 for additional information related to the Anti-dilution provision.

Research and Development Expenses

Research and development expenses was approximately $7.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $169 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 4372%. The increase was primarily due to the amortization of stock based compensation and additional development performed related to the platform.

Interest Expense, net

Interest expense, net was approximately $0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to $3.1 million for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing a decrease of 87%. The decrease was primarily due to the Company’s forbearance agreements with outstanding debt holders in 2021.

Change in Fair Value of Derivative Liability

Change in fair value of derivative liability was approximately $166 thousand for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to ($26 thousand) for the year ended December 31, 2021, representing an increase of 738%. The increase was primarily due to standard market volatility coupled with the resetting terms of the derivative.

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Other income (expenses)

Other income was approximately $0.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, compared to approximately $1.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2021. The decrease was primarily driven by the Company previously writing off payables totaling $946 thousand and debt forgiveness of $175 thousand.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

The Company successfully completed its capital raise and uplisting onto NASDAQ (herein referred to its “Offering”) on January 7, 2022. As part of the Offering, the Company executed a 9.5 to 1 reverse split of its common stock. In addition, the Offering sold 3,614,458 units of our common stock (a unit consisted of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one share of common stock) at $4.15 per unit. In addition, 542,168 warrants were granted. The Offering provided net proceeds of approximately $13.4 million. The Company’s current cash position is significant enough to support the daily operations for a period in excess of one year from the date of filing this 10-K. All shares and share prices within this 10-K have been adjusted to reflect the stock split.

As of December 31, 2022, we had cash and cash equivalents of approximately $3.5 million, working capital of negative $504 thousand, and stockholders’ equity of approximately $7.4 million.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, we met our immediate cash requirements through existing cash balances. Additionally, we used equity and equity-linked instruments to pay for services and compensation.

Subsequent to year end, the Company announced the closing of its previously announced $5.0 million registered direct offering (the “Registered Direct Offering”) with a single institutional investor to sell 1,666,667 shares of its common stock (the “Shares”) and warrants to purchase up to 1,666,667 shares (the “Warrants”) in a concurrent private placement (the “Private Placement”). The combined purchase price for one Share and one Warrant was $3.00. Each of the Warrants will have an exercise price of $4.64 per share of common stock and are exercisable on and after August 1, 2023. The Warrants will expire five years from the date on which they become exercisable. The aggregate gross proceeds from the Registered Direct Offering and the concurrent Private Placement were approximately $5.0 million before deducting placement agent fees and other estimated offering expenses. The Company used a portion of the proceeds to fulfill its obligations and paid all of its Loan Forbearance Agreements related to the notes payable in full. See note 5 for the agreements that have been paid off.

Management’s Plan

The Company continues to have yearly losses from its limited revenues from operations. Management believes the present cash flows will not enable it to meet its commitments for twelve months from the date of filing. The Company maintains an effective registration statement on Form S-3 with the Securities and Exchange Commission that would allow the Company to raise additional capital in an amount up to $75 million.

Cash Flows

The following table presents a summary of cash flows from operating, investing and financing activities for the following comparative periods (in thousands).

Year Ended December 31, 2022 and 2021

	Year Ended December 31,
	2022			2021

Net cash used in operating activities	$	(8,199	)	$	(1,825	)
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities	$	(1,791	)	$	(1,185	)
Net cash provided by financing activities	$	13,444		$	2,961

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Cash Flow from Operating Activities

Net cash used in operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2022, was approximately $8.2 million, which is comprised of (i) our net loss of $16.3 million, adjusted for non-cash expenses totaling $8.8 million (which includes adjustments for equity-based compensation, depreciation and amortization), and (ii) is decreased by changes in operating assets and liabilities of approximately $0.7 million.

Net cash used in operating activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $1.8 million, which is comprised of (i) our net loss of $79.2 million, adjusted for non-cash expenses totaling $77.2 million (which includes adjustments for equity-based compensation, depreciation and amortization), and (ii) changes in operating assets and liabilities using approximately $603 thousand.

Cash Flow from Investing Activities

Net cash used by investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was approximately $1.8 million and was primarily due to the internal capitalized software costs.

Net cash used by investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $1.2 million and was primarily due to the internal capitalized software costs.

Cash Flow from Financing Activities

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2022 was approximately $13.4 million, which principally consists of net proceeds of $15.0 million through the issuance of common shares and warrants in our public offering.

Net cash provided by financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2021 was approximately $3.0 million, which principally consists of net proceeds of $3.1 million through the sale of repurchase options.

Critical Accounting Policies

Our discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations are based upon our consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of these consolidated financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgments that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues and expenses. On an ongoing basis, we evaluate our estimates including those related to revenue recognition, goodwill and intangible assets, derivative financial instruments, and equity-based compensation. We base our estimates on historical experience and on various other assumptions that are believed to be reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions.

Critical accounting policies are those that we consider the most critical to understanding our financial condition and results of operations. The accounting policies we believe to be most critical to understanding our financial condition and results of operations are discussed below. As of December 31, 2022, there have been no significant changes to our critical accounting estimates nor to our recently issued accounting pronouncements, except as described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements.

Software Development Costs

The Company capitalizes software development costs in developing software when capitalizing requirements have been met. Costs prior to meeting the capitalization requirements are expensed as incurred. Equity and options granted are capitalized as part of the software development costs.

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Smaller Reporting Company

As a smaller reporting company, as defined in Item(f)(1) of Regulation S-K, we may choose to prepare our disclosures relying on scaled disclosure requirements for smaller reporting companies in Regulation S-K and in Article 8 of Regulation S-X.

The scaled disclosure requirements for smaller reporting companies permit us (i) to include less extensive narrative disclosure than required of other reporting companies, particularly in the description of executive compensation and (ii) to provide audited consolidated financial statements for two fiscal years, in contrast to other reporting companies, which must provide audited consolidated financial statements for three years.

We may lose our status as a smaller reporting company on the last day of the fiscal year in which (i) our public float exceeds $250 million or (ii) if we have more than $100 million in annual revenues and (a) have no public float or (b) have a public float or more than $700 million.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

As of December 31, 2022, there have been no significant changes to our recently issued accounting pronouncements, except as described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements.

Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements

We do not have any relationships with unconsolidated entities or financial partnerships, such as entities often referred to as structured finance or special purpose entities, that would have been established to facilitate off-balance sheet arrangements (as that term is defined in Item 303(a)(4)(ii) of Regulation S-K) or other contractually narrow or limited purposes. As such, we are not exposed to any financing, liquidity, market or credit risk that could arise if we had engaged in those types of relationships. We enter into guarantees in the ordinary course of business related to the guarantee of our own performance.

Equity-based Compensation

The Company records stock-based compensation in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 718, Compensation – Stock Compensation. FASB ASC Topic 718 requires companies to measure compensation cost for stock-based employee compensation at the fair market value on the grant date and recognize the expense over the employee’s requisite service period. The Company recognizes in the statement of operations the grant-date fair market value of stock options and other equity-based compensation issued to employees and non-employees.

During the year ended December 31, 2022, 162,914 shares of common stock were issued to the board of directors. The shares were earned over the term of the directors with rendered valued at $236 thousand.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, 69,531 of common stock were issued to several consultants and employees in connection with business development, and professional and employment services with rendered valued at $810 thousand.

During the year ended December 31, 2021, 21,491 shares of common stock were issued to the board of directors. The shares were earned over the term of the directors with rendered valued at $115 thousand.

Related Parties

See Item 13 for a full discussion of related parties.

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Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Because we are allowed to comply with the disclosure obligations applicable to a “smaller reporting company,” as defined by Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act, with respect to this Annual Report on Form 10-K, we are not required to provide the information required by this Item.

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

The consolidated financial statements and related financial statement schedules required to be filed are indexed on page 25 and are incorporated herein.

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accounts on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

None.

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures

Under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer, we evaluated the effectiveness of the design and operation of our “disclosure controls and procedures” (as defined in Rule 13a-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2022

Management’s Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) under the Exchange Act as a process designed by, or under the supervision of, our principal executive and principal financial officer and effected by our board of directors, management and other personnel, to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and includes those policies and procedures that:

	●	pertain to the maintenance of records that in reasonable detail accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of our assets;
	●	provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that our receipts and expenditures are being made only in accordance with authorizations of our management and directors; and
	●	provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of our assets that could have a material effect on our financial statements.

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our principal executive and financial officers, we assessed our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria for effective internal control over financial reporting established in the 2013 Internal Control - Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Tread way Commission (COSO).

Based on this assessment, our management concluded that we maintained effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022.

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Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the fourth quarter of 2022 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Limitations on the Effectiveness of Controls

Control systems, no matter how well conceived and operated, are designed to provide a reasonable, but not an absolute, level of assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. Further, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints, and the benefits of controls must be considered relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, have been detected. Because of the inherent limitations in any control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.

Item 9B. Other Information

None.

Item 9C. Disclosure Regarding Foreign Jurisdictions that Prevent Inspections

Not applicable.

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PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

The information required by this item regarding our executive officers will be presented under the caption “Executive Officers” in our Proxy Statement for the 2022 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission within 120 days of the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022 (the 2022 Proxy Statement) and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding our compliance with Section 16 of the Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, will be presented under the caption “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management - Delinquent Section 16(a) Reports” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding our audit committee will be presented under the caption “Corporate Governance - Board Committee - Audit Committee” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding our code of ethics was previously presented under the caption “Corporate Governance - Code of Business Conduct” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference. There is no material change.

Item 11. Executive Compensation

The information required by this item regarding executive compensation will be presented under the caption “Executive Compensation” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding director compensation will be presented under the caption “Corporate Governance - Director Compensation” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding our compensation committee will be presented under the caption “Corporate Governance - Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

The information required by this item regarding security ownership and certain beneficial owners and management will be presented under the caption “Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

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Equity Compensation Plan

The following table provides information, as of December 31, 2022, with respect to shares of our common stock that may be issued, subject to certain vesting requirements, under existing or future awards under our 2021 Equity Incentive Plan (“2021 Plan”). The 2021 Plan was approved by our Board of Directors and ratified by our shareholders at our 2021 Annual Shareholder Meeting.

	A		B			C
Plan Category	Number of Securities to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants, and Rights		Weighted-Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants and Rights			Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans (Excluding Securities Reflected in Column (A))

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders		1,089,868	$	7.00	(1)		265,482
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders		—		—			—
Total		1,089,868	$	7.00			265,482

(1) The weighted-average exercise price does not take into account restricted stock units, which do not have an exercise price.

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

The information required by this item regarding certain relationships and related persons transactions will be presented under the caption “Certain Relationships and Related Persons Transactions” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding director independence will be presented under the caption “Corporate Governance - Independent Directors” in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

Item 14. Principal Accountant Fees and Services

The information required by this item regarding aggregate fees billed to us by our independent registered public accounting firm’s fees will be presented in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

The information required by this item regarding our audit committee’s pre-approval policies and procedures will be presented in our 2022 Proxy Statement and is incorporated herein by reference.

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PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits and Financial Statements Schedules

(a)

The following documents are filed as part of, or incorporated by reference into, this Annual Report on Form 10K:

Financial Statements. See Index to Financial Statements under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Financial Statement Schedules. All schedules have been omitted because the information required to be presented in them is not applicable or is shown in the financial statements or related notes.

Exhibits. We have filed, or incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K by reference, the exhibits listed on the accompanying Exhibit Index immediately following the financial statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

(b)

Exhibits. See Item 15(a)(3) above.

(c)

Financial Statement Schedules. See Item 15(a)(2) above.

Item 16. Form 10-K Summary

Not applicable.

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APPTECH PAYMENTS CORP. CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

AS OF AND FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 and 2021

INDEX TO CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

	Pages

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm	26

Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021	28

Consolidated Statements of Operations for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021	29

Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Deficit for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021	30

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021	31

Notes to the Consolidated Financial Statements	32

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REPORT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

To the Board of Directors and

Stockholders of AppTech Payments Corp.

Opinion on the Financial Statements

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of AppTech Payments Corp. (the “Company”) as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of operations, stockholders’ equity (deficit), and cash flows for the years then ended, and the related notes (collectively referred to as the “consolidated financial statements”). In our opinion, the consolidated financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, and the results of their operations and their cash flows for the years then ended, in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America.

Basis for Opinion

These consolidated financial statements are the responsibility of the Company’s management. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s consolidated financial statements based on our audits. We are a public accounting firm registered with the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (“PCAOB”) and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the consolidated financial statements are free of material misstatement, whether due to error or fraud. The Company is not required to have, nor were we engaged to perform, an audit of its internal control over financial reporting. As part of our audits we are required to obtain an understanding of internal control over financial reporting but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.

Our audits included performing procedures to assess the risks of material misstatement of the consolidated financial statements, whether due to error or fraud, and performing procedures that respond to those risks. Such procedures included examining, on a test basis, evidence regarding the amounts and disclosures in the consolidated financial statements. Our audits also included evaluating the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of the consolidated financial statements. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Critical Audit Matter

The critical audit matter communicated below is a matter arising from the current period audit of the consolidated financial statements that was communicated or required to be communicated to the audit committee and that: (1) relates to accounts or disclosures that are material to the consolidated financial statements and (2) involved our especially challenging, subjective, or complex judgments. The communication of critical audit matters does not alter in any way our opinion on the consolidated financial statements, taken as a whole, and we are not, by communicating the critical audit matter below, providing separate opinion on the critical audit matter, or on the accounts or disclosures to which they relate.

Recoverability of Capitalized Prepaid Licensing Fee and Internally Developed Software Costs

As discussed in Notes 2, 3 and 8 to the consolidated financial statements, the Company capitalized prepaid license fees for its text payment platform and capitalized qualifying internal-use software development costs. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company indicated that due to the delay in the launch of their intended operations there was a potential impairment of the costs capitalized.

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We identified this as a critical audit matter because of the degree of subjectivity involved in managements’ estimates regarding the future undiscounted cash flows related to future operations. Management was required to make significant assumptions, which included estimating future undiscounted cash flows and the related probability.

Addressing the matter involved performing procedures and evaluating audit evidence in connection with forming our overall opinion on the consolidated financial statements. These procedures included gaining an understanding of the controls relating to estimating cash flows, testing management’s process for determining the probability of attaining the cash flows, evaluating the reasonableness of significant assumptions used by management in estimating estimated cash flows and performing inquiries of the third parties to corroborate management’s conclusions regarding the estimates.

/s/ dbbmckennon

3501

We have served as the Company’s auditor since 2014

San Diego, California

March 20, 2023

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APPTECH PAYMENTS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS

DECEMBER 31, 2022 and 2021

(in thousands, except per share data)


	December 31, 2022			December 31, 2021
ASSETS
Current assets
Cash and cash equivalents	$	3,462		$	8
Accounts receivable		51			40
Prepaid expenses		183			95
Prepaid license fees - current		729			479
Total current assets		4,425			622
Prepaid offering cost		—			92
Prepaid license fees – long term		2,700			3,180
Intangible assets		311			—
Note receivable		26			26
Right of use asset		127			189
Security deposit		9			8
Capitalized prepaid software development and license		4,921			3,440
TOTAL ASSETS	$	12,519		$	7,557
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY
Current liabilities
Accounts payable	$	347		$	1,255
Accrued liabilities		1,870			3,136
Stock repurchase liability		430			430
Convertible notes payable, net of $4 thousand and $51 thousand debt discount		676			679
Notes payable		1,021			438
Notes payable related parties		88			685
Derivative liabilities		433			599
Right of use liability		64			61
Total current liabilities		4,929			7,283
Long-term liabilities
Right of use liability		99			163
Notes payable, net of current portion		67			67
Total long-term liabilities		166			230
TOTAL LIABILITIES		5,095			7,513
Commitments and contingencies (Note 8)
Stockholders’ equity
Series A preferred stock; $0.001 par value; 10,526 shares authorized; 14 shares issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021		—			—
Common stock, $0.001 par value; 105,263,158 shares authorized; 16,697,280 and 11,944,600 issued and outstanding at December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively		17			12
Additional paid-in capital		147,881			124,225
Accumulated deficit		(140,474	)		(124,193	)
Total stockholders’ equity		7,424			44
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY	$	12,519		$	7,557

See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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APPTECH PAYMENTS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS

FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 and 2021

(in thousands, except per share data)


	December 31, 2022			December 31, 2021

Revenues	$	450		$	354
Cost of revenues		220			150
Gross profit		230			204

Operating expenses:
Selling, general and administrative, including stock based compensation of $1,547 thousand and $6,334 thousand, for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively		8,003			8,399
Excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received		904			68,956
Research and development, including stock based compensation of $6,158 thousand and $0, for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively		7,557			169
Total operating expenses		16,464			77,524

Loss from operations		(16,234	)		(77,320	)

Other income (expenses)
Interest expense		(417	)		(3,111	)
Change in fair value of derivative liability		166			(26	)
Other income (expenses)		204			1,211
Total other expenses		(47	)		(1,926	)

Loss before provision for income taxes		(16,281	)		(79,246	)

Provision for income taxes		—			—

Net loss	$	(16,281	)	$	(79,245	)

Basic and diluted net loss per common share	$	(1.00	)	$	(66.20	)
Weighted-average number of shares used basic and diluted per share amounts		16,246,000			1,197,000

See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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APPTECH PAYMENTS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 and 2021

(in thousands, except per share data)


	Series A Preferred				Common Stock					Additional Paid-		Accumulated			Stockholders’ Equity
	Shares		Amount		Shares			Amount		in Capital		Deficit			(Deficit)

Balance December 31, 2020		14	$	—		9,317,017		$	9	$	36,744	$	(44,948	)	$	(8,195	)
Net loss		—		—		—			—		—		(79,245	)		(79,245	)
Imputed interest		—		—		—			—		10		—			10
Stock based compensation		—		—		94,305			—		10,507		—			10,507
Issuance of options for capitalized prepaid software development and license		—		—		1,895,949			2		67,525		—			67,527
Common stock issued for forbearance		—		—		5,904			—		68		—			68
Common stock issued for services with warrant issuance		—		—		12,105			—		29		—			29
Common stock issued for convertible notes payable, accrued interest, derivative liabilities, and accounts payable		—		—		614,767			1		5,265		—			5,266
Proceeds from sale of repurchase option		—		—							3,087		—			3,087
Balance December 31, 2021		14	$	—		11,944,600		$	12	$	124,225	$	(124,193	)	$	44
Net loss		—		—		—			—		—		(16,281	)		(16,281	)
Stock based compensation		—		—		534,508			1		7,705		—			7,706
Common stock cancelled		—		—		(126,315	)		—		—		—			—
Common stock issued for forbearance		—		—		10,967			—		10		—			10
Option exercise		—		—		42,105			—		20		—			20
Anti-dilution provision		—		—		451,957			—		2,123		—			2,123
Common stock issued for patents		—		—		225,000			—		407		—			407
Net proceeds from sale of offering shares		—		—		3,614,458			4		13,391		—			13,395
Balance December 31, 2022		14	$	—		16,697,280		$	17	$	147,881	$	(140,474	)	$	7,424

See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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APPTECH PAYMENTS CORP.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS

FOR THE YEARS ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2022 and 2021

(in thousands, except per share data)


	December 31, 2022			December 31, 2021
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:
Net loss	$	(16,281	)	$	(79,246	)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash used in operating activities:
Stock based compensation		7,706			5,323
Common stock issued for forbearance		10			—
Gain on relief of accrued interest		(150	)
Issuance of warrants for services		—			29
Stock issued for purchase of judgment		—			1,000
Stock issued for excess fair value of equity		904			68,956
Excess fair market value of shares issued recorded as interest expense		—			2,706
Imputed interest on notes payable		—			10
Amortization of debt discount		47			297
Amortization of Intangible assets and software		405			—
Gain on extinguishment of accounts payable		—			(1,106	)
Change in fair value of derivative liabilities		(166	)		26
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable		(11	)		—
Prepaid expenses		(38	)		(88	)
Prepaid license costs		180			(909	)
Accounts payable		(909	)		928
Accrued liabilities		104			240
Right of use asset and liability		—			9
Net cash used in operating activities		(8,199	)		(1,825	)
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES
Capitalized software development		(1,789	)		(1,177	)
Other assets		(2	)		—
Note receivable		—			(8	)
Net cash used in investing activities		(1,791	)		(1,185	)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:
Payments for prepaid offering costs		—			(92	)
Proceeds on convertible note payable - related parties		—			(34	)
Proceeds from financing		15,005			—
Offering costs paid		(1,517	)		—
Repayment of note payable		(14	)		—
Repayment of convertible note payable		(50	)		—
Proceeds received from exercise of stock options		20			—
Proceeds from sale of repurchase option		—			3,087
Net cash provided by financing activities		13,444			2,961
Changes in cash and cash equivalents		3,454			(49	)
Cash and cash equivalents, beginning of year		8			57
Cash and cash equivalents, end of year	$	3,462		$	8
Supplemental disclosures of cash flow information:
NON-CASH INVESTING AND FINANCING ACTIVITIES
Common stock issued for forbearance	$	10		$	—
Common stock issued for conversion of accounts payable	$	—		$	206
Common stock issued convertible notes, accrued interest and derivative liabilities	$	—		$	2,336
Relief of anti-dilution liability through issuance of common stock	$	2,124		$	—
Issuance of stock for prepaid services	$	269		$	—
Issuance of stock for intangible assets	$	407		$	—
Common stock and options issued for capitalized software and licensing costs	$	—		$	5,013
Common stock issued with forbearance agreements recorded as a discount	$	—		$	68

See accompanying notes to the consolidated financial statements.

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APPTECH PAYMENTS CORP.

NOTES TO THE CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

(in thousands, except per share data)

NOTE 1 - ORGANIZATION AND DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

AppTech Payments Corp. (“AppTech” or the “Company), a Delaware corporation, is a Fintech Company headquartered in Carlsbad, California. AppTech utilizes innovative payment processing and digital banking technologies to complement its core merchant services capabilities. The Company’s patented and proprietary software will provide progressive and adaptable products that are available through a suite of synergistic offerings directly to merchants, banking institutions, and business enterprises.

AppTech is developing an embedded, highly secure digital payments and banking platform that powers commerce experiences for clients and their customers. Based upon industry standards for payment and banking protocols, we will offer standalone products and fully integrated solutions that deliver innovative, unparalleled payments, banking, and financial services experiences. Our processing technologies can be taken off-the-shelf or tapped into via our RESTful APIs to build fully branded and customizable experiences while supporting tokenized, multi-channel, and multi-method transactions.

In 2017, the Company acquired assets from GlobalTel Media, Inc. The assets included patented, enterprise-grade software for advanced text messaging. In addition to the software, four patents in text technology, and additional intellectual property for mobile payments.

In 2020, AppTech entered into a strategic partnership with Infinios (formerly “NEC Payments”), to extend its product offering to include flexible, scalable, and secure payment acceptance and issuer payment processing that supports the digitization of business and consumer financial services and the migration of cash and other legacy payment types to contactless card and real time payment transactions.

In 2021, the Company announced its intent to launch an innovative and patented mobile text payment solution in addition to a suite of digital banking and payment acceptance products designed in the Business-to-Business (“B2B”) and Business-to-Consumer (“B2C”) payment and software space.

On December 23, 2021, AppTech re-domiciled to Delaware and changed its name from “AppTech Corp.” to “AppTech Payments Corp.” AppTech stock trades under the symbol “APCX” and its warrants trade under the symbol “APCXW,” on the Nasdaq Capital Market (“NASDAQ”).

The Company successfully completed its capital raise and uplisting onto NASDAQ (herein referred to as its “Offering”) on January 7, 2022. As part of the Offering, the Company executed a 9.5 to 1 reverse split of its common stock. In addition, the Offering sold 3,614,458 units of our common stock (a unit consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one share of common stock) at $4.15 per unit. In addition, 542,168 warrants were granted by EF Hutton and the Offering warrants of 3,614,458, all having a five-year expiration and an exercise price of $5.19. The Offering provided net proceeds of approximately $13.4 million.

In April 2022, the Company acquired HotHand Inc. (“HotHand”), a patent-holding company. These patents are focused on the delivery, purchase, or request of any products or services within specific geolocation and time parameters, provided by a consumer’s cell phone anywhere in the United States.

In September 2022, the Company expanded its operations to Austin, Texas by establishing AppTech Holdings LLC. The goal of this expansion is primarily to pursue licensing revenue.

In February 2023, the Company completed an underwritten public offering of its common stock and warrants, raising gross proceeds of approximately $5.0 million. As of February 27, 2023, approximately $70.0 million remains available under the shelf registration statement Form 3 (File No. 333-265526) previously filed and declared effective by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on July 15, 2022. The Company anticipates raising additional capital in the second quarter of 2023 to further fund operations. Based on the Company’s current operating plan, working capital levels, financial projections, and planned capital raise in the second quarter; Management anticipates that the Company will be able to meet its financial obligations for the next twelve months.

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Management’s Plan

The Company continues to have yearly losses from its limited revenues from operations. Management believes the present cash flows will not enable it to meet its commitments for twelve months from the date of filing. However, Management has an open S-3 filed with the SEC and it intends to obtain the necessary funding for the Company to meet its obligations for the twelve-month period from the date the financial statements are issued.

NOTE 2 - SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Basis of Presentation

The accompanying consolidated audited financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”) for interim financial information and the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

Basis of Consolidation

The consolidated financial statements presented are the Company’s. All significant inter-company accounts and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of the consolidated financial statements in conformity with generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. Significant estimates include the estimated liabilities related to various vendors in which communications have ceased, contingent liabilities, amortization of capitalized software costs, licenses costs and patents, and realization of deferred tax assets. Actual results could differ from those estimates.

Concentration of Credit Risk

Cash and cash equivalents are maintained at financial institutions and, at times, balances may exceed federally insured limits of $250,000 per institution that pays Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (“FDIC”) insurance premiums. The Company has never experienced any losses related to these balances.

The accounts receivable from merchant services are paid by the financial institutions on a monthly basis. For the year ended December 31, 2022, there is no merchant (customer) representing a significant amount of total revenue. For the years ended December 31, 2021, the one merchant (customer) represented approximately 11% of the total revenues. The loss of this customer would not have significant impact on the Company’s operations.

Software Development Costs

The Company capitalizes certain costs related to the development of its digital banking platform. Costs incurred during the development phase are capitalized only when we believe it is probable the development will result in new or additional functionality. The types of costs capitalized during the development phase include employee compensation and consulting fees for third party developers working on these projects. Costs related to the preliminary project planning phase and post implementation phase are expensed as incurred. The digital banking platform is amortized on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company classifies its highly liquid investments with maturities of three months or less at the date of purchase as cash equivalents. Management determines the appropriate classification of its investments at the time of purchase and reevaluates the designations of each investment as of the balance sheet date for each reporting period. The Company classifies its investments as either short-term or long-term based on each instrument’s underlying contractual maturity date. Investments with maturities of less than 12 months are classified as short-term and those with maturities greater than 12 months are classified as long-term. The cost of investments sold is based upon the specific identification method.

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Accounts Receivable and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Accounts receivable is recorded net of an allowance for doubtful accounts, if needed. The Company considers any changes to the financial condition of its financial institutions used and any other external market factors that could impact the collectability of its receivables in the determination of its allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company does not expect to have write-offs or adjustments to accounts receivable which could have a material adverse effect on its financial position, results of operations or cash flows as the portion which is deemed uncollectible is already taken into account when the revenue is recognized.

Revenue Recognition

The Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2014-09, codified as Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) 606 Revenue from Contracts with Customers, which provides a single comprehensive model for entities to use in accounting for revenue arising from contracts with customers.

The Company provides merchant processing solutions for credit cards and electronic payments. In all cases, the Company acts as an agent between the merchant which generates the credit card and electronic payments, and the bank, which processes such payments. The Company’s revenue is generated on services priced as a percentage of transaction value or a specified fee transaction, depending on the card or transaction type. Revenue is recorded as services are performed, which is typically when the bank processes the merchant’s credit card and electronic payments.

Consideration paid to customers, such as amounts earned under our customer equity incentive program, are recorded as a reduction to revenues.

Fair Value Measurements

The Company follows FASB ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (“ASC 820”) to measure and disclose the fair value of its financial instruments. ASC 820 establishes a framework for measuring fair value in U.S. GAAP and expands disclosures about fair value measurements and establishes a fair value hierarchy which prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques used to measure fair value into three broad levels. The three levels of fair value hierarchy defined by ASC 820 are described below:

Level 1 Quoted market prices available in active markets for identical assets or liabilities as of the reporting date.

Level 2 Pricing inputs other than quoted prices in active markets included in Level 1, which are either directly or indirectly observable as of the reporting date.

Level 3 Pricing inputs that are generally unobservable inputs and not corroborated by market data.

Financial assets are considered Level 3 when their fair values are determined using pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies or similar techniques and at least one significant model assumption or input is unobservable.

The fair value hierarchy gives the highest priority to quoted prices (unadjusted) in active markets for identical assets or liabilities and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs. If the inputs used to measure the financial assets and liabilities fall within more than one level described above, the categorization is based on the lowest level input that is significant to the fair value measurement of the instrument.

The carrying amounts reported in the Company’s consolidated financial statements for cash, accounts payable and accrued expenses approximate their fair value because of the immediate or short-term maturity of these financial instruments.

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Transactions involving related parties cannot be presumed to be carried out on an arm’s-length basis, as the requisite conditions of competitive, free-marketing dealings may not exist. Representations about transactions with related parties, if made, shall not imply that the related party transactions were consummated on terms equivalent to those that prevail in arm’s-length transactions unless such representations can be substantiated.

The following table presents liabilities that are measured and recognized at fair value as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 on recurring basis:

Schedule of derivative liabilities

	December 31, 2022
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total Carrying Value
Derivative liabilities	$	—	$	—	$	433	$	433

	December 31, 2021
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Total Carrying Value
Derivative liabilities	$	—	$	—	$	599	$	599

See Note 6 for discussion of valuation and roll forward related to derivative liabilities.

Intangible Assets and Patents

Our intangible assets consist of patents and software development. We amortize the patents on a straight-line basis from 3 years to 15 years, which approximates the way the economic benefits of the intangible asset will be consumed.

Research and Development

In accordance with ASC 730, Research and Development (“R&D”) costs are expensed when incurred. R&D costs include costs of acquiring patents and other unproven technologies, contractor fees and other costs associated with the development of the SMS short code texting platform, contract and other outside services. Total R&D costs for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021 were $7.6 million and $169 thousand, respectively.

Property and Equipment

Property and equipment is recorded at cost. Expenditures for major additions and improvements are capitalized. Maintenance and repairs are charged to operations as incurred. Depreciation of property and equipment is computed by the straight-line method (after taking into account their respective estimated residual values) over the assets estimated useful life of five (5) years. Upon sale or retirement of equipment, the related cost and accumulated depreciation are removed from the accounts and any gain or loss is reflected in the statements of operations.

Impairment of Long-Lived Assets

Long-lived assets are reviewed for impairment when there is evidence that events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset or asset group may not be recoverable. Recoverability of assets to be held and used is measured by comparing the carrying amount of an asset or asset group to estimated undiscounted future cash flows expected to be generated by the asset or asset group. If the carrying amount of an asset or asset group exceeds its estimated future cash flows, an impairment charge is recognized for the amount by which the carrying amount of the asset or asset group exceeds the estimated fair value of the asset or asset group. Long-lived assets to be disposed of by sale are reported at the lower of their carrying amounts or their estimated fair values less costs to sell and are not depreciated. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, there were no asset impairments.

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Lease Commitment

The Company determines if an arrangement is a lease at inception. This determination generally depends on whether the arrangement conveys to the Company the right to control the use of an explicitly or implicitly identified fixed asset for a period of time in exchange for consideration. Control of an underlying asset is conveyed to the Company if the Company obtains the rights to direct the use of and to obtain substantially all of the economic benefits from using the underlying asset. The Company has lease agreements which include lease and non-lease components, which the Company has elected to account for as a single lease component for all classes of underlying assets. Lease expense for variable lease components are recognized when the obligation is probable. Operating lease right of use (“ROU”) assets and lease liabilities are recognized at commencement date based on the present value of lease payments over the lease term. Operating lease payments are recognized as lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term. The Company primarily leases buildings (real estate) which are classified as operating leases. ASC 842 requires a lessee to discount its unpaid lease payments using the interest rate implicit in the lease or, if that rate cannot be readily determined, its incremental borrowing rate. As an implicit interest rate is not readily determinable in the Company’s leases, the incremental borrowing rate is used based on the information available at commencement date in determining the present value of lease payments.

The lease term for all of the Company’s leases includes the non-cancellable period of the lease plus any additional periods covered by either a Company option to extend (or not to terminate) the lease that the Company is reasonably certain to exercise, or an option to extend (or not to terminate) the lease controlled by the lessor. Options for lease renewals have been excluded from the lease term (and lease liability) for the majority of the Company’s leases as the reasonably certain threshold is not met.

Lease payments included in the measurement of the lease liability are comprised of fixed payments, variable payments that depend on index or rate, and amounts probable to be payable under the exercise of the Company option to purchase the underlying asset if reasonably certain.

Variable lease payments not dependent on a rate or index associated with the Company’s leases are recognized when the event, activity, or circumstance in the lease agreement on which those payments are assessed as probable. Variable lease payments are presented as operating expenses in the Company’s statement of operations in the same line as expense arising from fixed lease payments. As of December 31, 2022, management determined that there were no variable lease costs.

Income Taxes

The Company recognizes deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the consolidated financial statements or tax returns. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are based on the differences between the financial statement and tax bases of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the fiscal year in which the differences are expected to reverse. Deferred tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance to the extent management concludes it is more likely than not that the assets will not be realized. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using enacted tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the fiscal years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates is recognized in the statement of operations in the period that includes the enactment date.

The Company’s income tax returns are based on calculations and assumptions that are subject to examination by the Internal Revenue Service and other tax authorities. In addition, the calculation of the Company’s tax liabilities involves dealing with uncertainties in the application of complex tax regulations. The Company recognizes liabilities for uncertain tax positions based on a two-step process. The first step is to evaluate the tax position for recognition by determining if the weight of available evidence indicates that it is more likely than not that the position will be sustained on audit, including resolution of related appeals or litigation processes, if any. The second step is to measure the tax benefit as the largest amount that is more than 50% likely of being realized upon settlement. While the Company believes it has appropriate support for the positions taken on its tax returns, the Company regularly assesses the potential outcomes of examinations by tax authorities in determining the adequacy of its provision for income taxes. The Company continually assesses the likelihood and amount of potential adjustments and adjusts the income tax provision, income taxes payable and deferred taxes in the period in which the facts that give rise to a revision become known. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company does not believe any provisions are required in connection with uncertain tax positions as there are none.

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Per Share Information

Basic net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the year. Diluted net income (loss) per common share is computed by dividing net income (loss) by the weighted average number of shares of common stock outstanding during the year, increased by the potentially dilutive common shares that were outstanding during the year. Dilutive securities include stock options, warrants granted, convertible debt and convertible preferred stock.

The number of common stock equivalents not included in diluted income per share was 6,254,396 and 1,263,543 for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively. The weighted average number of common stock equivalents is not included in diluted income (loss) per share, because the effects are anti-dilutive.

Schedule of anti dilutive stock


	December 31, 2022	December 31, 2021

Series A preferred stock	1,148	1,148
Convertible debt	177,620	175,632
Warrants	4,275,464	31,579
Options	1,089,868	1,055,184
Restricted stock units	710,296	0
Total	6,254,396	1,263,543

Convertible Debt

Convertible debt is accounted for under the guidelines established by ASC 470-20 Conversion and Other Options. ASC 470-20 governs the calculation of an embedded beneficial conversion, which is treated as an additional discount to the instruments where derivative accounting does not apply. The amount of the value of additional stock and other consideration in addition to the beneficial conversion feature may reduce the carrying value of the instrument to zero, but no further. The discounts are accreted over the term of the debt using the straight-line method due to the short terms of the notes.

The Company accounts for modifications of its embedded beneficial conversions, in accordance with ASC 470-50 Modifications and Extinguishments. ASC 470-50 requires the modification of a convertible debt instrument that changes the fair value of an embedded conversion feature and the subsequent recognition of interest expense or the associated debt instrument when the modification does not result in a debt extinguishment.

The Company adopted the beneficial conversion feature (“BCF”) standard as of January 1, 2022, which no longer requires BCF’s.

Derivative Liability

The Company issued debts that consist of the issuance of convertible notes with variable conversion provisions. In addition, the Company issued warrants with variable anti-dilution provisions. The conversion terms of the notes and warrants are variable based on certain factors, such as the future price of the Company’s common stock. The number of shares of common stock to be issued is based on the future price of the Company’s common stock. The number of shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the promissory note is indeterminate. Pursuant to ASC 815-15 Embedded Derivatives, the fair values of the variable conversion option and warrants and shares to be issued were recorded as derivative liabilities on the issuance date and at each reporting period.

Stock Based Compensation

The Company recognizes as compensation expense all share-based payment awards made to employees, directors, and consultants including grants of stock, stock options and warrants, based on estimated fair values. Fair value is generally determined based on the closing price of the Company’s common stock on the date of grant and is recognized over the service period. The Company has several consulting agreements that have share based payment awards based on performance. These agreements typically require the Company to issue common stock to the consultants on a monthly basis. The Company records the fair market value of the common stock issuable at each month end when the performance is complete based upon the closing market price of the Company’s common stock.

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New Accounting Pronouncements

The FASB issues ASUs to amend the authoritative literature in ASC. There have been a number of ASUs to date that amend the original text of ASC. The Company believes those issued to date either (i) provide supplemental guidance, (ii) are technical corrections, (iii) are not applicable to the Company or (iv) are not expected to have a significant impact on the Company.

NOTE 3 – INTANGIBLE ASSETS

Capitalized Development Cost and Prepaid Licenses

The Company capitalizes certain costs related to the development of its digital payment and banking platform, and also the third-party prepaid license fees. Costs incurred during the development phase are capitalized only when we believe it is probable the development will result in new or additional functionality. The types of costs capitalized during the development phase include employee compensation and consulting fees for third party developers working on these projects. Costs related to the preliminary project planning phase and post implementation phase are expensed as incurred. The digital banking platform is amortized on a straight line basis over the estimated useful life of the asset. The Company has capitalized approximately $4.9 million of software development costs as of December 31, 2022 and will amortize over five years beginning October 1, 2022.

Patents

In April 2022, the Company fully executed a Definitive Agreement to acquire the patents of HotHand Inc. (“HotHand”), a patent-holding company. HotHand did not have any operations, so the transaction was an asset acquisition of its portfolio of thirteen patents including USPTO 7,693,752; USPTO 8,554,632; USPTO 8,799,102; USPTO 9,436,956; USPTO 10,102,556; USPTO 10,127,592; USPTO 10,600,094; USPTO 10,621,639; USPTO 10,846,726; USPTO 10,846,727; USPTO 10,909,593; USPTO 11,107,140; USPTO 11,345,715. These patents are focused on the delivery, purchase, or request of any products or services within specific geolocation and time parameters, provided by a consumer’s cell phone anywhere in the United States. Additionally, HotHand’s family of patents includes a patent that protects advertising on a store’s mobile application when the cell phone is in the store and the ads shown are being triggered by geolocation tagging.

AppTech is currently integrating the HotHand Intellectual Property (“IP”) into our digital platform. In addition to offering an embedded, highly secure, and patent-backed product, AppTech will offer licensing agreements for its IP.

HotHand was acquired for 225,000 shares of common stock, valued at $407 thousand, was allocated to the patents as an intangible asset based on the fair market value of the common stock on the date of acquisition (April 18, 2022). The Company will amortize the asset over three years. Further, the purchase agreement outlines revenue milestones that may trigger four payments of $500 thousand payables to HotHand’s former owners. The Company did not meet these revenue milestones as of December 31, 2022.

	December 31, 2022			December 31, 2021
Balance as of December 31, 2021		—			—
Acquisition of patents		407			—
Amortization of patents		(96	)		—
Balance as of December 31, 2022	$	311			—

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NOTE 4 – ACCRUED LIABILITIES

Accrued liabilities as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 consist of the following (in thousands):

Schedule of Accrued Liabilities

	December 31, 2022		December 31, 2021
Accrued interest – third parties		1,436		1,420
Accrued payroll		311		294
Accrued residuals		31		98
Anti-dilution provision		72		1,290
Other		20		34
Total accrued liabilities	$	1,870	$	3,136

Accrued Interest

Notes payable and convertible notes payable incur interest at rates between 10% and 24%, per annum.

Accrued Residuals

The Company pays commissions to independent agents which refer merchant accounts. The amounts payable to these independent agents is based upon a percentage of the amounts processed on a monthly basis by these merchant accounts.

Anti-dilution provision

The agreement between the Company and Infinios, formerly NEC Payments B.S.C., has an anti-dilution provision. To remain in compliance, the Company accrued 73,848 shares of its common stock at $17.46 per share for a total value of $1.3 million as of December 31, 2021. Further, in connection with the capital raise discussed in Note 1, the Company issued an additional 378,109 shares of its common stock at $2.20 per share for a value of $832 thousand or a total value of $2.1 million. The 451,957 total shares were issued in May 2022.

Further, in connection with the shares to be issued as part of the HotHand acquisition, and to be in compliance with its anti-dilution provision with Infiinios, the Company accrued an additional 39,706 shares of its common stock at $1.81 per share for a total of $72 thousand. The shares have not been issued to Infinios as of December 31, 2022.

NOTE 5 – NOTES PAYABLE AND CONVERTIBLE NOTES PAYABLE

The Company funds operations through cash flows generated from operations and the issuance of loans and notes payable. The following is a summary of loans and notes payable outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. Related parties noted below are either members of management, board of directors, significant shareholders or individuals in which have significant influence over the Company.

Convertible Notes Payable

In 2020, the Company entered into a Securities Purchase Agreement with an investor pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell to the investor a $300 thousand convertible note bearing interest at 12% per annum (the “Note”). The Note matures in 365 days from the date of issuance. Upon maturity of the convertible note, interest rate will be increased to 24% per annum. The Note is convertible at the option of the holder at any time into shares of the Company’s common stock at nine dollars and fifty cents $9.50 for the one hundred and eighty (180) days immediately following the issue date and thereafter shall equal the lower of: 1) the lowest closing price of the common stock during the preceding twenty-five (25) trading day, ending on the last complete trading day prior to the issue date of the Note. 2) seventy-five (75) percent of the lowest trading price for the common stock during the twenty-five (25) consecutive trading days preceding the conversion date with a minimum trading volume of one thousand (1,000) shares.

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In the event of a default of the Note, the Holder, in its sole discretion may elect to use a conversion price equal to the lower of: 1) the lowest trading price of the common stock on the trading day immediately preceding the issue date or 2) seventy-five (75) percent of either the lowest trading price or the closing bid price, whichever is lower during any trading day in which the event of default has not been cured.

The embedded conversion feature of this Note was deemed to require bifurcation and liability classification, at fair value. Pursuant to the Securities Purchase Agreement, the Company also sold warrants to the investors to purchase up to an aggregate of 21,052 shares of common stock exercisable at $14.25 and expire in five (5) years. The fair value of the derivative liability and warrants as of the date of issuance was in excess of the Note (see Note 6 for valuation) resulting in full discount of the Note. The conversion feature and warrants have various reset provisions for which lower the exercise price and share and warrants issuable. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the convertible note payable balance was $280 thousand and $280 thousand.

See Note 8 - Commitments and Contingencies.

See Note 6 – Derivative Liabilities.

In 2015, the Company issued $50 thousand in convertible notes payable. The convertible notes payable are unsecured, were due in nine months, incur interest at 10% per annum and are convertible at $9.50 per share. The Company amended the convertible note on March 2, 2022 and an agreed offer of a $10 thousand discount on the principal and interest resulting in a $72 thousand payment in full.

In 2014, the Company issued $400 thousand in convertible notes payable. On March 30, 2022, the Company entered into forbearance agreements in exchange for not enforcing the terms of the original agreements. The interest rate on the note payable is 10% to 12%. The expiration date of the agreement was originally September 30, 2022. In November 2022, the parties agreed to extend the terms of the forbearance agreements for an additional six months. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the balance of the convertible notes was $400 thousand and $400 thousand, respectively. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the accrued interest related to the convertible notes was $278 thousand and $268 thousand, respectively. Subsequent to December 31, 2022, the Company paid off the note and accrued interest in its entirety.

Notes Payable

In 2020, the Company entered into a 30-year unsecured note payable with U.S. Small Business Administration for $68 thousand in proceeds. The notes payable incurred a $0.1 thousand fee upon issuance and incurs interest at 3.75% per annum. All payments of principal and interest are deferred for thirty months from the date of the note. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021 the balance of the note payable was $68 thousand and accrued interest was $6 thousand and $4 thousand, respectively.

A significant shareholder funded the Company’s operations through notes payable primarily in 2009 and 2010. On May 2, 2021, the Company entered into a debt reduction and confirmation agreement with the significant shareholder that is no longer a related party. The Company entered into a forbearance agreement in exchange for not enforcing the terms of the agreement. The interest rate on the note payable is 10% per annum. The expiration date of the agreement was originally September 27, 2022. In November 2022, the parties agreed to extend the terms of the forbearance agreement for an additional six months. The shareholder waived $25 thousand of accrued interest and was repaid $25 thousand of accrued interest. The Company recorded the forgiveness of the $25 thousand as Other Income. As of December 31, 2022, and 2021, the balance of the notes payable was $597 thousand and $597 thousand respectively, and the accrued interest related to the notes was $83 thousand and $383 thousand, respectively. Subsequent to December 31, 2022, the Company paid off the note and accrued interest in its entirety.

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Note payable - related party

The Company entered into several notes payable with third parties. The Company entered into forbearance agreements in exchange for not enforcing the terms of the agreement. The interest rate on the note payable is 0% to 18% per annum. The expiration date of the agreement ranged from September 27, 2022 to October 4, 2022. In November 2022, the parties agreed to extend the terms of the forbearance agreement for an additional six months. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the balance of the notes payable was $423 thousand and $437 thousand respectively, and the accrued interest related to the notes payable was $538 thousand and $538 thousand, respectively. Subsequent to December 31, 2022, the Company paid off the note and accrued interest in its entirety.

As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the balance of the related party notes payable was $88 thousand and $88 thousand, respectively, with an interest rate of 12% per annum and an expiration date on September 29, 2022. The accrued interest to the related party notes payable was $68 thousand and $68 thousand respectively. Subsequent to December 31, 2022, the Company paid off the note and accrued interest in its entirety.

NOTE 6–DERIVATIVE LIABILITIES

The Company issued debts that consist of the issuance of convertible notes with variable conversion provisions. In addition, the Company issued warrants with variable conversion provisions. The conversion terms of the convertible notes and warrants are variable based on certain factors, such as the future price of the Company’s common stock. The number of shares of common stock to be issued is based on the future price of the Company’s common stock. The number of shares of common stock issuable upon conversion of the promissory note is indeterminate. Pursuant to ASC 815-15 Embedded Derivatives, the fair values of the variable conversion option and warrants were recorded as derivative liabilities on the issuance date and revalued as of December 31, 2022 and 2021.

Based on the convertible notes described in Note 5, the derivative liability day one loss is $390 thousand and the change in fair value as of December 31, 2022 and 2021 is $166 thousand and ($26 thousand), respectively. The fair value of applicable derivative liabilities on note, warrants and change in fair value of derivative liability are as follows for the year ended December 31, 2022.

	Derivative Liability Convertible Notes			Derivative Liability Warrants			Total
Balance as of December 31, 2021	$	274		$	325		$	599
Change in fair value	$	(8	)	$	(158	)	$	(166	)
Balance as of December 31, 2022	$	266		$	167		$	433

The fair value of applicable derivative liabilities on note, warrants and change in fair value of derivative liability are as follows for the year ended December 31, 2021.

	Derivative Liability Convertible Notes	Derivative Liability Warrants	Total
Balance as of December 31, 2020	$ 378	$ 220	$ 598
Change in fair value	(80)	105	26
Change in fair value due to conversion	(25)	—	(25)
Balance as of December 31, 2021	$ 274	$ 325	$ 599

Derivative liability convertible notes

As of December 31, 2022, the fair value of the derivative liability convertible notes is estimated using a Monte Carlo pricing model with the following assumptions:


Market value of common stock	$	2.37
Expected volatility		73.1	%
Expected term (in years)		0.25
Risk-free interest rate		4.38	%

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As of December 31, 2022, the fair value of the derivative liability – warrants is estimated using a Monte Carlo pricing model with the following assumptions:


Market value of common stock	$	2.37
Expected volatility		83.7	%
Expected term (in years)		2.88
Risk-free interest rate		4.31	%

As of December 31, 2021, the fair value of the derivative liability convertible notes is estimated using a Monte Carlo pricing model with the following assumptions:


Market value of common stock	$	12.45
Expected volatility		56.9	%
Expected term (in years)		0.25
Risk-free interest rate		0.41	%

As of December 31, 2021, the fair value of the derivative liability – warrants is estimated using a Monte Carlo pricing model with the following assumptions:


Market value of common stock	$	12.45
Expected volatility		104.6	%
Expected term (in years)		3.88
Risk-free interest rate		0.76	%

NOTE 7–RIGHT OF USE ASSET

Lease Agreement

In January 2020, the Company entered into a lease agreement commencing February 8, 2020 for its current facility, which expires in 2025. The term of the lease is for five years. At inception of the lease, the Company recorded a right of use asset and liability. The Company used an effective borrowing rate of 12% within the calculation. The following are the expected lease payments as of December 31, 2022, including the total amount of imputed interest related (in thousands):

Years ended December 31:


2023	$	88
2024		90
2025		7
Operating Lease Total	$	185
Less: Imputed interest		(22	)
Total	$	163

The rent expense was and $85 thousand and $61 thousand for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.

NOTE 8 - COMMITMENTS AND CONTINGENCIES

Litigation

Former Shareholders Lawsuits

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Other Lawsuit

Convertible Note and Warrant Lawsuit

On September 2, 2021, EMAF filed a motion for summary judgment. AppTech filed a motion to dismiss EMAF’s complaint in its entirety. On September 13, 2022, the court denied AppTech’s motion to dismiss, and granted EMAF’s motion for summary judgment in part and denied in part. In particular, the court granted EMA’s motion for summary judgment for its claim of breach of contract but denied its request for damages.

NCR Lawsuit

Significant Contracts

Capital Raises

In February 2021, the Company entered into an engagement letter with Maxim Group LLC (“Maxim”) as the lead management underwriter for a follow-on offering that is non-binding. This engaged Maxim through September 30, 2021 as exclusive financial advisor, lead managing underwriter and sole book running manager and investment banker in connection with the offering. On October 27, 2021, Maxim and the Company terminated all relevant agreements. In satisfaction of all amounts due and owning, and all amounts that shall become due and owing, the Company issued Maxim 21,052 shares, valued at $220 thousand, of the Company’s common stock in association with the termination.

On October 18, 2021, the Company entered into an engagement letter with EF Hutton, division of Benchmark Investments, LLC. (“EF Hutton”) to act as lead underwriter, deal manager and investment banker for the Company’s proposed firm commitment follow-on public offering and uplisting. This engaged EF Hutton through the earlier of (i) October 2022 or (ii) the closing of a follow-on offering. The Company completed its offering on January 7, 2022. The Company sold 3,614,458 units of our common stock (a unit consisting of one share of common stock and a warrant to purchase one share of common stock) at $4.15 per unit. The offering provided net proceeds of approximately $13.4 million.

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See Note 1 for information on the capital raises completed in January 2022 and February 2023.

Silver Alert Services, LLC

In August 2020, the Company entered into a strategic partnership with Silver Alert Services, LLC doing business as Lifelight Systems (“Lifelight”). The partnership would expand AppTech’s reach into new markets and provide advanced technological solutions for the telehealth and personal emergency response systems markets. The strategic partnership provided a promissory note to Lifelight for up to $1.0 million dollars with an interest rate of three percent per annum upon successful completion of Lifelight’s Personal Emergency Response System (“PERS”) pilot program. Also, Lifelight was granted an option for the right to purchase 473,684 shares of AppTech for which 105,263 shares were exercisable at $0.0095 and 368,421 were exercisable at $2.375 upon the successful completion of the PERS pilot program. These options had a grant date fair value of at $1,549,999 and $5,424,987, respectively using a Black-Scholes options pricing model. No stock-based compensation had been recorded as vesting was determined to be highly improbable.

The strategic partnership was cancelled on February 17, 2022.

Infinios Financial Services (formerly NEC Payments B.S.C.)

On October 1, 2020, the Company entered into a strategic partnership with Infinios Financial Services BSC (formally NEC Payments B.S.C) (“Infinios”) through a series of agreements, which included the following: (a) Subscription License and Services Agreement; (b) Digital Banking Platform Operating Agreement; (c) Subscription License Order Form; and (d) Registration Rights Agreement (collectively the “Agreements”).

On February 11, 2021, the Company entered into an amended and restated Subscription License and Services Agreement, Digital Banking Platform Operating Agreement and Subscription License Order Form with Infinios (collectively the “Restated Agreements”). The gross total fees due under the Restated Agreements are $2.2 million excluding pass-through costs associated with infrastructure hosting fees.

On February 19, 2021, the Company completed and validated its contractual obligations and paid to Infinios the $100 thousand engagement fee. On February 28, 2021, the Company paid the initial fee of $708 thousand to Infinios prior to the Funding Date. On March 25, 2021, the Company issued 1,895,948 shares of common stock to an Infinios affiliate on a fully diluted basis with piggyback rights. The Company valued the common stock issuance at $67.5 million based upon the closing market price on the effective date of the transaction based on the closing market price of the Company’s common stock. The issuance was recorded as a $3.8 million asset and $63.8 million expense in excess fair value of equity issuance over assets received. The capitalized asset was classified as capitalized prepaid software development of $2.8 million and capitalized licensing of $1.0 million. The estimated amortization is a 5-year life based on the term of the licensing agreement. The amortization is set to begin once the platform begins processing transactions (in thousand).

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As of December 31, 2022, the following fees were paid (in thousands):

Schedule of fees paid to NECP platform


Engagement Fee (prepaid licensing cost)	$	100
License subscription fee (prepaid licensing cost)		750
Annual maintenance subscription fee (prepaid licensing cost)		113
Implementation fee (capitalized software cost)		325
Infrastructure implementation fee (capitalized software cost)		65
Training fee		50
Total	$	1,403

Innovations Realized LLC

On October 2, 2020, the Company entered into an independent contractor services agreement with Innovations Realized, LLC (“IR”) to develop a strategic operating plan focused on the design, execution and go-to-market implementation of the Infinios platform to enter the United States market.

On February 18, 2021, the Company entered into an amended independent contractor services agreement for $760 thousand with IR. Under the agreement, the Company granted options to purchase 42,105 shares at a price of $0.095 and 263,157 shares at $2.375 and exercisable for two years after vesting. These options vest in equal monthly installments over 24 months. These options had a grant date fair value of $1.4 million and $8.7 million using a Black-Scholes pricing model. The estimated amortization is a 5-year life based on the term of the licensing agreement. The final payment owed to IR of $171 thousand was paid in January 2022.

Executive Compensation

On April 28, 2021, the Company entered into new employment and stock options agreements with its named executive officers. The agreements, among other things, each employment agreement, apart from the Chief Executive Officer, which implements a guaranteed bonus structure, shall provide for a starting base salary and potential business development revenue sharing at rates ranging from 20-50% of net processing revenue. Each Employment Agreement also provides a potential annual bonus, which is subject to adjustment by the Board from time to time. Further, stock option awards for certain named executives were provided, subject to the applicable vesting schedule. Each Employment Agreement provides that the applicable named executive officer’s employment with us is “at will”. The named executive officers are entitled to receive all other benefits generally available to our executive officers.

NOTE 9 – STOCKHOLDERS’ EQUITY (DEFICIT)

Series A Preferred Stock

The Company is authorized to issue 10,526 shares of $0.001 par value Series A preferred stock (“Series A”). There were fourteen (14) shares of Series A preferred stock outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. The holders of Series A preferred stock are entitled to one vote per share on an “as converted” basis on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and are not entitled to cumulate their votes in the election of directors. The holders of Series A preferred stock are entitled to any dividends that may be declared by the Board of Directors out of funds legally available, therefore on a pro rata basis according to their holdings of shares of Series A preferred stock, on an as converted basis. In the event of liquidation or dissolution of the Company, holders of Series A preferred stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and have no liquidation preferences. Holders of Series A preferred stock have a right to convert each share of Series A into 9 shares common stock.

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Common Stock

The Company is authorized to issue 105,263,158 shares of $0.001 par value as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. There were 16,697,280 and 11,944,600, respectively, shares of common stock outstanding as of December 31, 2022 and 2021. The holders of common stock are entitled to one vote per share on all matters submitted to a vote of stockholders and are not entitled to cumulate their votes in the election of directors. The holders of common stock are entitled to any dividends that may be declared by the board of directors out of funds legally available, therefore subject to the prior rights of holders of any outstanding shares of preferred stock and any contractual restrictions against the payment of dividends on common stock. In the event of liquidation or dissolution of the Company, holders of common stock are entitled to share ratably in all assets remaining after payment of liabilities and the liquidation preferences of any outstanding shares of preferred stock. Holders of common stock have no preemptive or other subscription rights and no right to convert their common stock into any other securities.

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company issued 371,846 and 69,532, respectively, shares of common stock to several consultants in connection with business development, accounts payable conversion and professional services. The Company valued the common stock issuances at $603 thousand and $810 thousand, respectively, based upon the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on the date in which the performance was complete or issued based upon the vesting schedule and the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of the agreement. The amounts were expensed to general and administrative expenses on the accompanying statements of operations.

During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company granted 162,914 and 21,491 shares of common stock to the board of directors and expensed at $236 thousand and $66 thousand, respectively. The shares vest quarterly over the year of 2022 and 2021, respectively.

During the years ended December 31, 2022, the Company has reserved the 225,000 shares of common stock to HotHand.

During the year ended as of December 31, 2021, the Company issued 21,052 shares of common stock in connection with a judgment purchase agreement from a third party. The judgment is for damages in the amount of $0.5 million plus statutory interest against FlowPay Corporation and R. Wayne Steiger. The Company valued the common stock issuance at $1.0 million based on the closing market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of the judgment purchase.

During the year ended as of December 31, 2021, the Company issued 597,399 shares of common stock to several convertible note payable holders of which 401,276 shares of common stock were issued to related parties in connection with debt conversions. The closing market price of the Company’s common stock on the date of the agreement was used to value the excess fair value of equity issuance. The amounts were reflected as a reduction of convertible notes payable, accrued interest, and excess fair value of equity issuance as follows:

Schedule of convertible related party


Convertible notes payable	$	857,698
Convertible notes payable – related parties		395,630
Accrued interest		674,199
Accrued interest – related parties		383,964
Excess fair value of equity issuance		816,476
Excess fair value of equity issuance – related parties		1,911,769
Total	$	5,039,736

See Note 8 – Significant Contracts for additional common stock issuance.

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Stock Options

During the year ended December 31, 2022 :

	a)	options to purchase 413,685 shares of common stock at $2.49 were granted as compensation to employees. The options vest in equal monthly installments over 24 months. The options were valued at $1,013 thousand using a Black-Scholes options pricing model.

	b)	options to purchase 63,157 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $7.29 were granted as compensation for various services including engineering, accounting, and sales. The options were valued at $460 thousand using a Black-Scholes options pricing model. 42,105 shares were exercised.

The fair value of the options for the year ended December 31, 2022 is estimated using a Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following range of assumptions:


Market value of common stock on issuance date	$0.64 - $12.45
Exercise price	$0.64 - $12.04
Expected volatility	415% - 442%
Expected term (in years)	0.0 - 5.0
Risk-free interest rate	0.11	%
Expected dividend yields	—

The following table summarizes option activity:

	Number of shares			Weighted Average exercise price		Weighted Average remaining years

Outstanding December 31, 2021		1,055,184		$	6.62
Issued		476,842		$	3.36
Exercised		(42,105	)	$	0.10
Cancelled		(400,053	)	$	2.56
Outstanding as of December 31, 2022		1,089,868		$	7.00		1.91
Outstanding as of December 31, 2022, vested		991,896		$	7.22		1.88

The remaining expense outstanding through December 31, 2022 is $860 thousand which is expected to be expensed over the next 21 months.

In July 2022, the Company amended its option agreements with its employees, consultants and board of directors. The shareholders will vote to ratify the amendment as part of the annual shareholder meeting tentatively scheduled to take place in 2023.

During the year ended December 31, 2021:

options to purchase 353,368 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $16.25 were granted as compensation to employees. The options vest in equal monthly installments over 6 and 12 months. The options were valued at $6,300,284 using a Black-Scholes options pricing model.

options to purchase 38,421 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $8.55 were granted as compensation for various services including accounting, sales, and marketing. The options were valued at $825,201 using a Black-Scholes options pricing model. 13,158 shares were exercised.

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The fair value of the options is estimated using a Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following range of assumptions as of December 31, 2021:

Shares Assumptions Activity


Market value of common stock on issuance date	$5.34 - $33.25
Exercise price	$0.095 - $19.34
Expected volatility	450% - 452%
Expected term (in years)	0.3 – 3.0
Risk-free interest rate	0.11	%
Expected dividend yields	—

On December 7, 2021, the board authorized the Company’s AppTech Equity Incentive Plan in order to facilitate the grant of equity incentives to employees (including our named executive officers), directors, independent contractors, merchants, referral partners, channel partners and employees of our company to enable our company to attract, retain and motivate employees, directors, merchants, referral partners and channel partners, which is essential to our long-term success. A total of 1,052,632 shares of common stock were authorized under the AppTech Equity Incentive Plan, for which as of December 31, 2022, a total of 265,482 are available for issuance.

Warrants

In 2020, the Company entered into a security purchase agreement with an investor pursuant to which the Company agreed to sell the investor a $300 thousand convertible note bearing interest at 12% per annum. The Company also sold warrants to the investors to purchase up to an aggregate of 21,052 shares of common stock, with an exercise term of five (5) years, at a per share price of $14.25 which may be exercised by cashless exercise. The number of warrants adjusted in the period ending March 31, 2022 due to a reset event on January 7, 2022 changed the exercise price from $9.50 to $2.52 and increased the number of warrants from 31,578 to 119,095. The warrants were deemed a derivative liability and recorded as a debt discount at their date of issuance.

In total, the Company has 4,275,721 warrants outstanding. 3,614,458 were related to the Offering, 542,168 were granted on January 7 and the reset event added an additional 119,095. The Warrant price from the S-1 offering had a strike price of 5.1875 and a future offerings floor price of $4.15. Accordingly, the floor price was reset to $4.15 in February 2023.

The following table summarizes warrant activity:

	Number of shares		Weighted Average exercise price		Weighted Average remaining years

Outstanding December 31, 2021		31,579	$	9.50		2.25
Issued		4,244,142	$	5.13		4.02
Cancelled		—	$	—
Outstanding as of December 31, 2022		4,244,142	$	5.16		3.14

See Note 1 for information on warrants issued during the Offering and note 6 for additional information on the derivative liability.

NOTE 10 – INCOME TAXES

The Company’s net deferred tax assets at December 31, 2022 and 2021 is approximately $4.1 million and $2.4 million, respectively, which primarily consists of net operating loss carry forwards and various accruals. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company provided a 100% valuation allowance against the net deferred tax assets. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the valuation allowance increased by approximately $1.7 million and $193 thousand, respectively.

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At December 31, 2022 and 2021, the applicable federal rate used in calculating the deferred tax provision was 21%.

The Company is subject to tax in the United States (“U.S.”) and files tax returns in the U.S. Federal jurisdiction and California state jurisdiction. The Company is subject to U.S. Federal, state and local income tax examinations by tax authorities for all periods starting in 2019. The Company currently is not under examination by any tax authorities.

NOTE 11 – SUBSEQUENT EVENTS

Management has evaluated subsequent events pursuant to the requirements of ASC Topic 855 and has determined that no material subsequent events exist other than those disclosed below.

The Company’s stock repurchase agreement with the Chief Financial Officer expired in January 2023.

On February 2, 2023, the Company announced the closing of its previously announced $5.0 million registered direct offering (the “Registered Direct Offering”) with a single institutional investor to sell 1,666,667 shares of its common stock (the “Shares”) and warrants to purchase up to 1,666,667 shares (the “Warrants”) in a concurrent private placement (the “Private Placement”). The combined purchase price for one Share and one Warrant was $3.00. Each of the Warrants will have an exercise price of $4.64 per share of common stock and are exercisable on and after August 1, 2023. The Warrants will expire five years from the date on which they become exercisable. The aggregate gross proceeds from the Registered Direct Offering and the concurrent Private Placement were approximately $5.0 million before deducting placement agent fees and other estimated offering expenses.

Along with the offering that was completed in February 2023, the reset price (essentially the fair value of the share sold with the warrant) was determined by iterating the valuation of the Warrant until the stock price converged to yield a unit price of $4.15.

In February 2023, the Company fulfilled its obligations and paid all of its Loan Forbearance Agreements in effect related to notes payable. See note 5 for the agreements that have been paid off.

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EXHIBIT INDEX

Exhibit Number		Exhibit Title
2.1		Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of April 18, 2022, by and among AppTech Payments Corp., AppTech IP Corp., and HotHand, Inc., (filed as Exhibit 2.1 to the Registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K, as filed on April 21, 2022, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.1		AppTech Corp. Articles of Conversion filed October 25, 2006 (filed as Exhibit 3.1 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.2		AppTech Corp. Articles of Incorporation filed October 25, 2006(filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.3		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Designation filed May 09, 2007(filed as Exhibit 3.3 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.4		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Correction filed June 04, 2007(filed as Exhibit 3.4 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.5		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Designation filed June 06, 2007(filed as Exhibit 3.5 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.6		AppTech Corp. Amendment to Certificate of Designation After Issuance of Class or Series filed November 17, 2008(filed as Exhibit 3.6 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.7		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Amendment filed October 26, 2009(filed as Exhibit 3.7 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.8		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Amendment filed October 27, 2009(filed as Exhibit 3.8 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.9		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Designation filed April 21, 2010(filed as Exhibit 3.9 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.10		AppTech Corp. Amendment to Certificate of Designation After Issuance of Class or Series filed April 27, 2010(filed as Exhibit 3.10 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.11		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Change filed July 22, 2010(filed as Exhibit 3.11 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.12		AppTech Corp. Amendment to Certificate of Designation After Issuance of Class or Series filed October 26, 2010(filed as Exhibit 3.12 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.13		AppTech Corp. Amendment to Certificate of Designation After Issuance of Class or Series filed October 26, 2010(filed as Exhibit 3.13 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

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3.14		AppTech Corp. Amendment to Certificate of Designation After Issuance of Class or Series filed October 28, 2010(filed as Exhibit 3.14 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.15		AppTech Corp. Amendment to Certificate of Designation After Issuance of Class or Series filed April 08, 2011(filed as Exhibit 3.15 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.16		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Amendment filed June 06, 2011 (filed as Exhibit 3.16 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.17		AppTech Corp. Articles of Domestication filed July 18, 2011(filed as Exhibit 3.17 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.18		AppTech Corp. Bylaws dated May 07, 2013(filed as Exhibit 3.18 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.19		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Domestication filed July 09, 2013(filed as Exhibit 3.19 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.20		AppTech Corp. Articles of Amendment filed October 31, 2013(filed as Exhibit 3.20 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.21		AppTech Corp. Certificate of Incorporation filed July 29, 2015 (filed as Exhibit 3.21 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

3.22		AppTech Corp. Bylaws (Amended and Restated) dated March 27, 2020 (filed as Exhibit 3.22 to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K, as filed on March 30, 2020, and incorporated herein by reference)

SEC Form 10-K filed by AppTech Payments Corp.