Mitek Systems (MITK) ARS2023 FY Annual report to shareholders

This Annual Report on Form 10-K, including the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” contains “forward-looking statements” that are often identified by the use of future events and future results that are subject to the safe harbors created under the meaning, that involve risks and uncertainties, as well as assumptions that, if they never materialize or prove incorrect, could cause our results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.

Statements that are not purely historical are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), and Section 21E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”). Forward-looking statements can be identified by the use of words such as “estimate,” “plan,” “project,” “forecast,” “intend,” “expect,” “anticipate,” “believe,” “seek,” “target,” or similar expressions.

In addition to those factors discussed under Item 1A—“Risk Factors,” important factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations. These factors include, but are not limited to:

These statements represent the beliefs and assumptions of our management based on the information currently available to us. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results and the timing of certain events to differ materially from future results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, those identified above, and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” included in Part I, Item 1A. Furthermore, such forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of report. Except as required by law, we undertake no obligations to update any forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that occur after the date of this report.

In May of 2021, Mitek acquired ID R&D, Inc. (“ID R&D” and such acquisition, the “ID R&D Acquisition”), an award-winning provider of AI-based voice and face biometrics and liveness detection. ID R&D delivers innovative, biometric capabilities that raise the bar on usability and performance. The ID R&D Acquisition helps simplify and secure the entire transaction lifecycle for both businesses and consumers, provides businesses and financial institutions with access to one authentication solution to deploy throughout the entire transaction cycle, and can provide consumers with a simple, intuitive approach to fighting fraud.

In March of 2022, Mitek acquired HooYu Ltd. (“HooYu”), a leading KYC technology provider in the United Kingdom. Such technology helps to ensure businesses know the true identity of their customers by linking biometric verification with real-time data aggregation across many different sources, including credit bureaus, international sanctions lists, local law-enforcement, and others.

Mitek markets and sells its products and services worldwide through internal, direct sales teams located in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America as well as through channel partners. Our partner sales strategy includes channel partners who are financial services technology providers and identity verification providers. These partners integrate our products into their solutions to meet the needs of their customers, typically provisioning Mitek services through their respective platforms.

During the twelve months ended September 30, 2023, we had one operating segment: the development, sale, and service of our proprietary software solutions related to mobile image capture and identity verification.

Our digital technology solutions are provided in two parts: (i) a software development kit for mobile image capture and (ii) a cloud software platform which uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to classify and extract data to enable mobile check deposit as well as aid the authentication of identity documents including passports, identity cards, and driver's licenses using a camera-equipped device.

Our technology uses patented algorithms that analyze images of identity documents in many ways. These include image quality analysis, image repair and optimization, document identification and classification, data extraction, and numerous authenticators.

Mitek’s Mobile Deposit® solution is used today by millions of consumers in the United States and Canada for mobile check deposit. Mobile Deposit® enables individuals and businesses to remotely deposit checks using their camera-equipped smartphone or tablet. Mobile Deposit® is embedded within the financial institutions’ digital banking apps used by consumers and now processes more than one billion check deposits annually. Mitek began selling Mobile Deposit® in early 2008 and received its first patent for this product in August 2010.

Mobile Deposit® allows consumers to take photographs of the front and back of a check and then remotely deposit the check all within their financial institution’s mobile banking app. Mitek delivers a simple and easy user experience with our proprietary mobile automatic capture which assists users in capturing a high quality image of a check by holding their mobile device over the check.

Mobile Verify® is an identity verification solution that can be integrated into mobile apps, mobile websites, and desktop applications. Mobile Verify® combines an optimal image capture experience with our leading document authentication technology — helping our customers validate an identity document presented in a digital transaction is genuine and unaltered. Adding a second layer for identity proofing, Mobile Verify® matches the portrait extracted from the identity document with a selfie of its presenter by doing a biometric face comparison.

The Mobile Verify® identity verification engine is a modular cross-platform architecture that uses machine learning and advanced computer vision algorithms. To achieve the highest accuracy rates, Mitek’s technology was conceptualized to verify the authenticity of an identity document in the following systematic approach:

Mobile Fill®, which includes automatic image capture, minimizes the number of clicks and expedites form fill completion. In mere seconds, and just by taking a photo of an identity document, people can easily complete application forms and quickly become approved customers. Organizations can use Mobile Fill® for a variety of purposes, including streamlining the process of opening a checking, savings, or credit card account, paying a bill, activating an offer, and more. Mobile Fill® is available for native apps and web browser applications.

Mitek MiSnap™ is a patented mobile-capture software development kit (“SDK”) that enables an intuitive user experience and instant capture of quality images of identity documents and checks. The key to successful mobile check deposit, data pre-fill and ID document verification is the quality of the image capture. Mitek's MiSnap™ helps enable every user to capture a quality image the first time.

CheckReader™ enables financial institutions to automatically extract data from checks once they have been scanned or photographed by the application. Easily integrated into mobile and server-based applications providing automatic image pre-processing and recognition capabilities, CheckReader™ allows for the automatic recognition of all fields on checks and generic payments documents, whether handwritten or machine printed. CheckReader™ is utilized as a core component throughout a wide range of check processing applications, including ATMs, centralized and back office processes, remittance, merchants, and fraud applications. CheckReader™ is deployed worldwide in over forty countries.

The premier AI-powered and cloud-hosted model for fighting check fraud, Check Fraud Defender uses Mitek’s proprietary check image science to spot visual anomalies in checks submitted by participating banks to better isolate suspected fraud and reduce bank and consumer losses. Check Fraud Defender helps banks fight check fraud by analyzing more than 18 visual elements of a check to give a more comprehensive view of possible fraud.

Check Intelligence enables financial institutions to automatically extract data from a check image received across any deposit channel—branch, ATM, remote deposit capture, and mobile. Through the automatic recognition of all fields on checks, whether handwritten or machine printed, Check Intelligence speeds up the time to deposit for banks and customers and helps enable financial institutions to comply with check clearing regulations. With built-in image quality analysis and image usability analysis, Check Intelligence also ensures that the check meets the Check Clearing for the 21st Century Act requirements and other industry and regulatory standards.

MiVIP® is an end-to-end KYC platform that helps companies to quickly design, build, and deploy robust KYC journeys with little or no development resources. We combine facial biometrics, liveness detection, ID document validation, database checks, geolocation, digital footprint analysis, and more to provide the clearest picture of who is requesting access to a business’ services. The

MiPass®, with its state-of-the-art facial and voice biometric capabilities, provides increased protection against today’s most sophisticated forms of identity theft and increasingly dangerous fraud techniques, such as deepfakes and synthetic identities. These technologies ensure the highest level of security against evolving threats while delivering a superior consumer experience.

As more interactions move online, passwords are a challenging and a highly imperfect solution for granting account access to customers. Asking trusted customers to re-assert their identity at every touchpoint only leads to frustration and abandonment and passwords leave customers vulnerable to identity theft and account takeover attacks. The availability, simplicity, and convenience of biometrics on consumer devices has opened the door for organizations in all industries to transform the trusted customer experience. MiPass® strengthens a business’s trust in a consumer’s real-world identity using a sophisticated combination of biometrics that are extremely difficult to falsify – face, liveness detection, and voice allowing organizations to replace passwords and one-time passcodes with biometric authentication that can be easily embedded into existing platforms and customer experiences.

ID_CLOUD™ is a fully automated identity verification solution that can be integrated into a customer’s application to instantly read and validate identity documents. ID_CLOUD™ automated technology enables global enterprises to improve their customer acquisition technology while meeting AML requirements in a safe and cost-effective manner. This solution is available in the cloud, via mobile websites, and desktop applications. Additionally, a version of ID_CLOUD™ is available that works locally on a desktop which is connected to a propriety hardware scanner for reading and validating identity documents.

IDLive® Face is the industry’s first passive facial liveness detection product. The technology is critical to frictionless fraud prevention in solutions that use face biometrics for authentication and digital identity proofing. IDLive® Face is iBeta Levels 1 and 2 Presentation Attack Detection (“PAD”) compliant and is used to process millions of monthly transactions for customers worldwide.

IDVoice® is a robust AI-driven voice biometric engine that enables fast, convenient authentication on mobile, web, and telephone channels. The product is also optimized to enable embedded security and personalization on Internet of Things devices. IDVoice® has achieved top rankings in the industry’s leading benchmark challenges.

IDLive® Voice helps stop spoofing attacks on voice biometric systems by distinguishing live voice from synthesized speech, voice deepfakes, and recordings.

IDLive Doc™ works to fight fraud related to digitally displayed document images. This AI-based product validates the physical presence of documents used when verifying customer identities online. The product can be added to any onboarding or electronic KYC solution, providing another layer of fraud prevention for banks, gig economy companies, telecom companies, and others.

We derive revenue predominately from the sale of licenses (to both our on premise and transactional software as a service (“SaaS”) products) and transaction fees to use our products, and to a lesser extent by providing maintenance and professional services for the products we offer. The revenue we derive from the sale of such licenses is derived from both the sale to our channel partners of licenses to sell the applications we offer as well as the direct sale of licenses and services to customers.

We have an internal marketing group that develops corporate and digital marketing strategies. The internal team executes these strategies with the help of external resources as needed to support both direct sales and channel partners’ sales efforts.

Our success depends in large part upon our proprietary technology. We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights primarily through a combination of patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, employee and third-party non-disclosure agreements, and other measures. We believe that factors such as the technological and creative skills of our personnel, new product development, frequent product enhancements, name recognition, and reliable product maintenance are essential to establishing and

As of September 30, 2023, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has issued us 100 patents with expiration dates ranging from 2026 through 2037 and we have filed for 20 additional domestic and international patents. In addition, we generally enter into confidentiality agreements with certain employees.

We believe that financial institutions, fintechs, and other companies see our patented solutions as a way to provide a superior digital customer experience to meet growing consumer demands of trust and convenience online and, at the same time, assist them in meeting regulatory requirements. The value of digital transformation to our customers is a possible increase in top line revenue and a reduction in the cost of sales and service. As the use of new technology increases, so does associated fraud and cyber-attacks. The negative outcomes of fraud and cyber-attacks encompass financial losses, brand damage, and loss of loyal customers. We predict growth in our deposits business as a result of the increased consumer adoption of digital financial services provided to them by their banks and identity verification products based on current trends in payments, online lending, more stringent regulations, growing usage of sharing apps and online marketplaces, and the ever-increasing demand for digital services.

Factors adversely affecting the pricing of, or demand for, our digital solutions, such as competition from other products or technologies, any decline in the demand for digital transactions, or negative publicity or obsolescence of the software environments in which our products operate, could result in lower revenues or gross margins. Further, because substantially all of our revenues are from a few types of technology, our product concentration may make us especially vulnerable to market demand and competition from other technologies, which could reduce our revenues.

The sales cycle for our software and services can be lengthy and the implementation cycles for our software and services by our channel partners and customers can also be lengthy, often as long as six months and sometimes longer for larger customers. If implementation of our products by our channel partners and customers is delayed or otherwise not completed, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected.

Revenues related to most of our on premise licenses for mobile products are required to be recognized up front upon satisfaction of all applicable revenue recognition criteria. Revenue related to our SaaS products is recognized ratably over the life of the contract or as transactions are used depending on the contract criteria. The recognition of future revenues from these licenses is dependent upon a number of factors, including, but not limited to, the term of our license agreements, the timing of implementation of our products by our channel partners and customers, and the timing of any re-orders of additional licenses and/or license renewals by our channel partners and customers.

During each of the last few years, sales of licenses to one or more channel partners have comprised a significant portion of our revenue each year. This is attributable to the timing of renewals or purchases of licenses and does not represent a dependence on any single channel partner. If we were to lose a channel partner relationship, we do not believe such a loss would adversely affect our operations because either we or another channel partner could sell our products to the end-users that had purchased products from the channel partner we lost. However, in that case, we or another channel partner must establish a relationship with the end-users, which could take time to develop.

We have a growing number of competitors in the mobile image capture and identity verification industry, many of which have greater financial, technical, marketing, and other resources. However, we believe our patented mobile image capture and identity verification technology, our growing portfolio of products and coverage for the financial services industry and our market expertise gives us a distinct competitive advantage. To remain competitive, we will continue to offer products that are attractive to the consumer as well as being compliant, accurate, and convenient. To help us remain competitive, we intend to further our investment in research and development as well as partnering with other technology providers.

The market for our products and solutions is intensely competitive, subject to rapid change, and significantly affected by the introduction of new products or technologies and other market activities of industry participants. We face direct and indirect competition from a broad range of competitors who offer a variety of products and solutions to our current and potential customers. Our principal competition comes from: (i) customer-developed solutions; (ii) companies offering alternative methods of identity verification; (iii) companies offering competing technologies capable of mobile remote deposit capture or authenticating identity documents and facial photo comparison; and (iv) alternate forms of user authentication, including face and voice recognition.

It is also possible that we will face competition from new industry participants or alternative technologies. Moreover, as the market for automated document processing, image recognition and authentication, check imaging, and fraud detection software

Our products are compliant with Service-Oriented Architecture standards and compete, to various degrees, with products produced by a number of substantial competitors. Competition among product providers in this market generally focuses on price, accuracy, reliability, global coverage, and technical support. We believe our primary competitive advantages in this market are: (i) our mobile auto image capture user experience used by millions of consumers; (ii) our patented data science; (iii) scalability; and (iv) an architectural software design that allows our products to be more readily modified, improved with added functionality, and configured for new products, thereby allowing our software to be easily upgraded.

Increased competition may result in price reductions, reduced gross margins, and loss of market share, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, and financial condition.

We develop software products internally and also purchase or license rights to third-party intellectual property. We believe that our future success depends in part on our ability to maintain and improve our core technologies, enhance our existing products, and develop new products that meet an expanding range of customer requirements.

Internal research and development allows us to maintain closer technical control over our products and gives us the ability to determine which modifications and enhancements are most important and when they should be implemented to ensure the proper functioning and improved performance of our products. We intend to expand our existing product offerings and introduce new mobile image capture and digital identity verification capabilities that meet a broader set of needs of our customers. We intend to continue to support the major industry standard operating environments.

Our research and development organization includes software engineers and scientists, many of whom have advanced degrees, as well as additional personnel in quality assurance and related disciplines. All our scientists and software engineers are involved in product development.  

The development team includes specialists in artificial intelligence, computer vision, software engineering, user interface design, product documentation, product management, and quality assurance. The team is responsible for maintaining and enhancing the performance, quality, and utility of all of our products. In addition to research and development, our engineering staff provides customer technical support on an as-needed basis.

As of September 30, 2023, we had 590 employees, 160 in the U.S. and 430 internationally, 573 of which are full time. Our total employee base consists of 329 sales and marketing, professional services, and document review employees, 189 research and development and support employees, and 72 employees in executive, finance, network administration, and other capacities. In addition, we engaged various consultants in the areas of research and development, product development, finance, and marketing during fiscal year 2023. We have never had a work stoppage and none of our employees are represented by a labor organization. Substantially all of our employees, other than a certain number of our executive officers and employees with customary employment arrangements within Europe, are at will employees, which means that each employee can terminate his or her relationship with us and we can terminate our relationship with him or her at any time. We offer industry competitive wages and benefits and are committed to maintaining a workplace environment that promotes employee productivity and satisfaction. We consider our relations with our employees to be good. We are also focused on understanding our diversity and inclusion strengths and opportunities and executing on a strategy to support further progress. We continue to focus on building a pipeline for talent to create more opportunities for workplace diversity and to support greater representation within the Company.

We are subject to the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act. Consequently, we are required to file reports and information with the SEC, including reports on the following forms: annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. These reports and other information concerning us may be accessed, free of charge, through the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov and our website at www.miteksystems.com. These reports are placed on our website as soon as reasonably practicable after they are filed with the SEC. Information contained in, or that can be accessed through, our website is not incorporated by reference into, nor is it in any way a part of, this Form 10-K.

On July 7, 2018, United Services Automobile Association (“USAA”) filed a lawsuit against Wells Fargo Bank, N.A. (“Wells Fargo”) in the Eastern District of Texas alleging that Wells Fargo’s remote deposit capture systems (which in part utilize technology provided by the Company to Wells Fargo through a partner) infringe four USAA owned patents related to mobile deposits (the “First Wells Lawsuit”). On August 17, 2018, USAA filed a second lawsuit (the “Second Wells Lawsuit” and together with the First Wells Lawsuit, the “Wells Lawsuits”) against Wells Fargo in the Eastern District of Texas asserting that an additional five patents owned by USAA were infringed by Wells Fargo’s remote deposit capture system. In neither lawsuit was the Company named in the Complaint as an infringer and at no time did USAA allege specifically that the Company’s products by themselves infringed any of the asserted patents. Subsequently, on November 6, 2019, a jury in the First Wells Lawsuit found that Wells Fargo willfully infringed at least one of the Subject Patents (as defined below) and awarded USAA $200 million in damages. In the Second Wells Lawsuit, USAA dropped two of the patents from the litigation, and the judge in the case found that one of the remaining three patents was invalid. On January 10, 2020, a jury in the Second Wells Lawsuit found that Wells Fargo willfully infringed at least one of the patents at issue in that case and awarded USAA $102 million in damages. No Mitek product was accused of infringing either of the two patents in question in the Second Wells Lawsuit as the litigation involved broad banking processes and not the Company’s specific mobile deposit features. USAA and Wells Fargo subsequently reached a settlement, and on April 1, 2021, the Court granted the parties’ joint motion and stipulation of dismissal of the Wells Lawsuits with prejudice.

On September 30, 2020, USAA filed suit against PNC Bank (the “First PNC Lawsuit”) in the Eastern District of Texas alleging infringement of U.S. Patent Nos. 10,482,432 (“the ‘432 Patent”) and 10,621,559. These two patents are continuations of an asserted patent in the Second Wells Lawsuit and relate to similar subject matter. On October 19, 2020, PNC Bank’s integration partner, NCR Corporation, sent an indemnification demand to the Company requesting indemnification from all claims related to the First PNC Lawsuit. The complaint against PNC Bank does not claim that any Company product infringes any of the asserted patents. At this time, the Company does not believe it is obligated to indemnify NCR Corporation or end-users of NCR Corporation resulting from the patent infringement allegations by USAA. On December 4, 2020, USAA filed an amended complaint against PNC Bank also asserting two patents at issue in the First Wells Lawsuit—the ’779 Patent and the ’571 Patent. On February 2, 2021, NCR Corporation sent a second indemnification demand to the Company requesting indemnification of the claims described in the amended complaint. On March 31, 2021, USAA filed another suit against PNC Bank in the Eastern District of Texas alleging infringement of two patents from the Second Wells Lawsuit, U.S. Patent Nos. 10,013,605 (“the ‘605 Patent”) and 10,013,681 (“the ‘681 Patent”) (the “Second PNC Lawsuit”). On July 7, 2021, USAA filed a third lawsuit against PNC Bank (the “Third PNC Lawsuit” and together with the First PNC Lawsuit and the Second PNC Lawsuit, the “PNC Lawsuits”) asserting infringement of U.S. Patents 10,769,598; 10,402,638; and 9,224,136. A jury trial was held in May 2022 on the consolidated First PNC Lawsuit and Second PNC Lawsuit. The jury found that PNC willfully infringed at least one patent claim and awarded USAA $218 million in damages. The Court denied PNC Bank’s equitable defenses and entered a Final Judgment in the consolidated First PNC Lawsuit and Second PNC Lawsuit on August 19, 2022. A jury trial was held in September 2022 on the Third PNC Lawsuit. The jury found that PNC infringed at least one patent claim and awarded USAA $4.3 million in damages. The Court entered a Final Judgment in the Third PNC Lawsuit on February 16, 2023.

While neither the Wells Lawsuits nor the PNC Lawsuits name the Company as a defendant, given (among other factors) the Company’s prior history of litigation with USAA and the continued use of the Company’s products by its customers, on November 1, 2019, the Company filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking declaratory judgment that its products do not infringe the ’779 Patent, the ’571 Patent, the ’517 Patent, and the ’090 Patent (collectively, the “Subject Patents”). On January 15, 2020, USAA filed motions requesting the dismissal of the declaratory judgement of the Subject Patents and transfer of the case to the Eastern District of Texas, both of which the Company opposed. On April 21, 2020, the Court in the Northern District of California transferred the Company’s declaratory judgement action to the Eastern District of Texas and did not rule on USAA’s motion to dismiss. On April 28, 2021, the Court in the Eastern District of Texas granted USAA’s motion to dismiss the Company’s declaratory judgment action on jurisdictional grounds. The Court’s ruling did not address the merits of the Company’s claim of non-infringement. The Company appealed the ruling on the motion to dismiss and the decision to transfer the declaratory judgment action from California to Texas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The Federal Circuit heard oral argument on the Company’s appeal on April 4, 2022 and on May 20 2022, issued an opinion vacating and remanding the district court’s order granting USAA’s motion to dismiss. On August 1, 2022, the parties submitted additional briefing to the district court in light of Federal Circuit’s opinion. The court held another hearing on USAA’s motion to dismiss the Company’s declaratory judgment action on jurisdictional grounds, and once again granted USAA’s motion to dismiss on February 23, 2023. The Company timely filed a notice of appeal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. The appeal is fully briefed, and the Company is awaiting oral argument. The Company continues to believe that its products do not infringe the Subject Patents and will vigorously defend the right of its end-users to use its technology.

In April, May, and June 2020, the Company filed petitions for IPR with the PTAB of the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office challenging the validity of the Subject Patents. On November 6 and 17, 2020, the PTAB decided to exercise its discretion and deny institution of the four petitions due to the alleged relationship between the Company and Wells Fargo, who previously filed petitions for IPR on the Subject Patents. The PTAB did not address the merits of the Company’s petitions or the prior art cited in those petitions. The Company continues to believe that the prior art cited in the petitions renders all the claims of the Subject Patents invalid. On each of December 6, 2020, December 17, 2020, and February 23, 2021, the Company filed requests for rehearing and Precedential Opinion Panel (“POP”) review of the four denied IPR petitions. The Patent Office denied the requests for rehearing and for POP review.

In September 2020, the Company filed an additional two petitions for IPR with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office challenging the validity of the ‘681 Patent and the ‘605 Patent—two of the patents at issue in the Second Wells Lawsuit. In March 2021, the PTAB decided not to institute the two petitions.

On August 16, 2021, USAA filed suit against BBVA USA (“BBVA”) in the Eastern District of Texas alleging infringement of the same patents at issue in the PNC Lawsuits. While the Company’s IPR petitions were mentioned in the complaint, the Company was not named as a defendant or mentioned in connection with any alleged infringement. BBVA then sent the Company an indemnification demand on September 7, 2021. For the same reasons discussed above in connection with PNC Bank and PNC Lawsuits, the Company does not believe it is obligated to indemnify BBVA. On June 6, 2022, the Court granted the parties’ request to administratively close the case and stay all deadlines in view of the pending appeal in the PNC Lawsuits.

In October and November of 2022, Truist filed a petition for IPR with the U.S. Patent & Trademark Office challenging the validity of the ’090 Patent, the ’432 Patent, and the ’753 Patent. The Patent Office instituted the petitions directed to the ’090 and ’753 Patents, but denied institution of the petition directed to the ’432 Patent. In view of the settlement between USAA and Truist, the IPRs were withdrawn.

Not applicable for the fiscal year ended on September 30, 2023.

Our principal executive offices are located in approximately 29,000 square feet of office space in San Diego, California and the term of the lease continues through June 30, 2024.

Our other offices are located in Paris, France; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New York, New York; Barcelona, Spain; and London, United Kingdom, each of which does not contain material lease obligations for us. We believe our existing properties are in good condition and are sufficient and suitable for the conduct of our business.

Not applicable.

Our common stock, $0.001 par value, is traded on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the ticker symbol “MITK.” The closing sales price of our common stock on March 12, 2024 was $11.86. As of March 12, 2024, there were 226 stockholders of record of our common stock and an undetermined number of beneficial owners.

We have not paid any cash dividends on our common stock. We currently intend to retain earnings for use in our business and do not anticipate paying cash dividends in the foreseeable future.

All equity securities that we sold during the period covered by this Form 10-K that were not registered under the Securities Act have been previously reported in our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q or on our current reports on Form 8-K.

On February 14, 2023, we sold 71,135 shares of our Common Stock to officers and employees of the Company and our subsidiaries pursuant to our Employee Stock Purchase Plan (“ESPP”) in a transaction exempt from registration under the Securities Act in reliance on Regulation S thereunder, Section 4(a)(2) thereof and Rule 506 of Regulation D thereunder. The shares were sold at $8.39 per share, which was equal to 85% of the fair market value of a share of the Common Stock on the exercise date, totaling $596,823 in proceeds.

On August 15, 2023, we sold 49,760 shares of our Common Stock to officers and employees of the Company and our subsidiaries pursuant to our ESPP in a transaction exempt from registration under Securities Act in reliance on Regulation S thereunder, Section 4(a)(2) thereof and Rule 506 of Regulation D thereunder. The shares were sold at $8.288 per share, which was equal to 85% of the fair market value of a share of the Common Stock on the offering date, totaling $412,411 in proceeds.

In May of 2021, Mitek acquired ID R&D, Inc. (“ID R&D” and such acquisition, the “ID R&D Acquisition”), an award-winning provider of AI-based voice and face biometrics and liveness detection. ID R&D delivers innovative, biometric capabilities that raise the bar on usability and performance. The ID R&D Acquisition helps simplify and secure the entire transaction lifecycle for both businesses and consumers, provides businesses and financial institutions with access to one authentication solution to deploy throughout the entire transaction cycle, and can provide consumers with a simple, intuitive approach to fighting fraud.

In March of 2022, Mitek acquired HooYu Ltd. (“HooYu”), a leading KYC technology provider in the United Kingdom. Such technology helps to ensure businesses know the true identity of their customers by linking biometric verification with real-time data aggregation across many different sources, including credit bureaus, international sanctions lists, local law-enforcement, and others.

Mitek markets and sells its products and services worldwide through internal, direct sales teams located in the U.S., Europe, and Latin America as well as through channel partners. Our partner sales strategy includes channel partners who are financial services technology providers and identity verification providers. These partners integrate our products into their solutions to meet the needs of their customers, typically provisioning Mitek services through their respective platforms.

See Item 1: “Business” for details regarding additional market opportunities, challenges and risks.

Cost of revenue includes personnel costs related to billable services and software support, direct costs associated with our hardware products, hosting costs, and the costs of royalties for third party products embedded in our products. Cost of revenue increased $2.9 million, or 15%, to $23.0 million in 2023 compared to $20.0 million in 2022. As a percentage of revenue, cost of revenue decreased to 13% in 2023 from 14% in 2022. The increase in cost of revenue is primarily due to an increase in variable personnel, hosting, and royalty costs associated with the HooYu Acquisition.

Selling and marketing expenses include payroll, employee benefits, stock-based compensation, and other headcount-related costs associated with sales, marketing, and product management personnel. Selling and marketing expenses also include non-billable costs of professional services personnel, advertising expenses, product promotion costs, trade shows, and other brand awareness programs. Selling and marketing expenses increased $1.7 million, or 4%, to $40.6 million in 2023 compared to $38.8 million in 2022. As a percentage of revenue, selling and marketing expenses decreased to 24% in 2023 from 27% in 2022. The increase in selling and marketing expense is primarily due to higher product promotion and other costs of $1.2 million, higher travel and related expenses of

Research and development expenses include payroll, employee benefits, stock-based compensation, third-party contractor expenses, and other headcount-related costs associated with software engineering and mobile image capture science. Research and development expenses decreased $1.2 million, or less than 1%, to $29.0 million in 2023 compared to $30.2 million in 2022. As a percentage of revenue, research and development expenses decreased to 17% in 2023 from 21% in 2022. The decrease in research and development expenses is primarily due to lower personnel-related costs of $2.2 million, partially offset by higher costs associated with third-party contractors of $0.6 million and higher travel and related expenses of $0.4 million in 2023 compared to 2022.

General and administrative expenses include payroll, employee benefits, stock-based compensation, and other headcount-related costs associated with finance, legal, administration and information technology functions, as well as third-party legal, accounting, and other administrative costs. General and administrative expenses increased $16.7 million, or 63%, to $43.3 million in 2023 compared to $26.6 million in 2022. As a percentage of revenue, general and administrative expenses increased to 25% in 2023 from 18% in 2022. The increase in general and administrative expenses is primarily due to higher third-party and professional fees of $7.3 million, audit and accounting fees of $5.9 million, software and IT costs of $1.8 million, legal costs of $0.8 million, executive transition costs of $0.7 million, and allowance for uncollectible receivables of $0.4 million in 2023 compared to 2022. The overall increase in general and administrative expenses was partially offset by decreased personnel-related costs of $0.2 million in 2023 compared to 2022.

Amortization and acquisition-related costs include amortization of intangible assets, adjustments recorded due to changes in the fair value of contingent consideration, and other costs associated with acquisitions. Amortization and acquisition-related costs increased $3.8 million, or 26%, to $19.0 million in 2023 compared to $15.2 million in 2022. As a percentage of revenue, amortization and acquisition-related costs were consistent at 11% in 2023 and 2022. The increase in amortization and acquisition-related costs is primarily due to amortization of intangibles associated with the HooYu Acquisition of $5.3 million and an increase in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability associated with the ID R&D Acquisition of $3.4 million in 2023 compared to 2022. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in expenses associated with the HooYu Acquisition of $3.0 million and a decrease in amortization expense of intangibles related to previous acquisitions that were fully amortized of $1.9 million in 2023 compared to 2022.

Restructuring costs consist of employee severance obligations and other related costs. In order to streamline the organization and focus resources going forward, we undertook strategic restructurings in November and June of 2022, which included reductions in our workforce. Restructuring costs incurred in were $2.1 million and $1.8 million in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Interest expense includes the amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and coupon and special interest accrued on our 0.75% convertible senior notes due 2026 (the “2026 Notes”). Interest expense was $9.1 million in 2023 and consisted of $7.6 million of amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and $1.6 million of interest incurred. Interest expense was $8.2 million in 2022 and consisted of $7.0 million of amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and $1.2 million of interest incurred.

Other income (expense), net includes interest income net of amortization and net realized gains or losses on our marketable securities portfolio, and foreign currency transactional gains or losses. Other income (expense), net increased $4.2 million, to net income of $3.8 million in 2023 compared to net expense of $0.4 million in 2022, primarily due to higher interest income net of amortization of $2.5 million, a favorable outcome in the Instacart Lawsuit (as defined below) of $1.4 million, and higher realized gains on the sale of marketable securities of $0.3 million in 2023 compared to 2022.

The income tax provision for 2023 was $2.3 million which yielded an effective tax rate of 22% compared to an income tax benefit of $0.1 million which yielded an effective tax rate of negative 3% in 2022. The income tax provision for 2023 is primarily due to our positive net income for the year. Our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2023 was higher than the U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% due to the impact of non deductible expenses and of foreign and state taxes on our tax provision.

Selling and marketing expenses include payroll, employee benefits, stock-based compensation, and other headcount-related costs associated with sales and marketing personnel. Selling and marketing expenses also include non-billable costs of professional services personnel, advertising expenses, product promotion costs, trade shows, and other brand awareness programs. Selling and marketing expenses increased $6.3 million, or 20%, to $38.8 million in 2022 compared to $32.5 million in 2021. As a percentage of revenue, selling and marketing expenses were consistent at 27% in 2022 and in 2021. The increase in selling and marketing expense is primarily due to higher personnel-related costs resulting from our increased headcount of $4.0 million, higher product promotion costs of $1.7 million, and higher travel and related expenses of $0.6 million in 2022 compared to 2021.

Research and development expenses include payroll, employee benefits, stock-based compensation, third-party contractor expenses, and other headcount-related costs associated with software engineering and mobile image capture science. Research and development expenses increased $2.2 million, or 8%, to $30.2 million in 2022 compared to $28.0 million in 2021. As a percentage of revenue, research and development expenses decreased to 21% in 2022 from 23% in 2021. The increase in research and development expenses is primarily due to higher personnel-related costs resulting from our increased headcount of $3.6 million and higher travel and related expenses of $0.2 million, partially offset by lower third-party contractor and other expenses of $1.6 million in 2022 compared to 2021.

General and administrative expenses include payroll, employee benefits, stock-based compensation, and other headcount-related costs associated with finance, legal, administration and information technology functions, as well as third-party legal, accounting, and other administrative costs. General and administrative expenses increased $4.1 million, or 18%, to $26.6 million in 2022 compared to $22.5 million in 2021. As a percentage of revenue, general and administrative expenses decreased to 18% in 2022 from 19% in 2021. The increase in general and administrative expenses is primarily due to higher third-party and professional fees of $2.1 million, higher personnel-related costs resulting from our increased headcount of $1.4 million, higher litigation expenses of $0.5 million, and higher travel and related expenses of $0.3 million in 2022 compared to 2021.

Amortization and acquisition-related costs include amortization of intangible assets, expenses recorded due to changes in the fair value of contingent consideration, and other costs associated with acquisitions. Amortization and acquisition-related costs increased $6.2 million, or 70%, to $15.2 million in 2022 compared to $9.0 million in 2021. As a percentage of revenue, amortization and acquisition-related costs increased to 11% in 2022 from 7% in 2021. The increase in amortization and acquisition-related costs is primarily due to amortization of intangibles associated with the HooYu Acquisition and the ID R&D Acquisition of $7.1 million and expenses associated with the HooYu Acquisition of $2.9 million in 2022 compared to 2021. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in the fair value of the contingent consideration liability associated with the ID R&D Acquisition of $2.4 million compared to an increase in 2021, a decrease in amortization expense of intangibles related to previous acquisitions that were fully amortized of $1.0 million, and a decrease in acquisition-related expense from the ID R&D Acquisition of $0.3 million in 2022 compared to 2021.

Restructuring costs consist of employee severance obligations and other related costs. In order to streamline the organization and focus resources going forward, we undertook a strategic restructuring in June 2022, which included a reduction in our workforce. Restructuring costs incurred in 2022 were $1.8 million. There were no restructuring costs in 2021.

Interest expense includes the amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and coupon interest incurred associated with our 2026 Notes. Interest expense was $8.2 million in 2022 and consisted of $7.0 million of amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and $1.2 million of coupon interest incurred. Interest expense was $5.1 million in 2021 and consisted of $4.4 million of amortization of debt discount and issuance costs and $0.8 million of coupon interest incurred.

Other income (expense), net includes interest income net of amortization and net realized gains or losses on our marketable securities portfolio, foreign currency transactional gains or losses, and the change in fair value of our convertible senior notes hedge and embedded conversion derivative. Other income (expense), net decreased $1.0 million, to net expense of $0.4 million in 2022 compared to net income of $0.7 million in 2021, primarily due to higher foreign currency exchange transaction losses, higher realized losses on the sale of marketable securities, partially offset by higher interest income net of amortization in 2022 compared to 2021.

The income tax benefit for 2022 was $0.1 million which yielded an effective tax rate of negative 3% compared to an income tax provision of $0.8 million which yielded an effective tax rate of 9% in 2021. Our effective tax rate for fiscal year 2022 was lower than the U.S. federal statutory rate of 21% due to excess tax benefits resulting from the exercise of stock options and vesting of restricted stock awards, the impact of foreign and state taxes, the impact of certain permanent items on its tax provision, and the impact of federal and state research and development credits on our tax provision.

Cash generated from operations has historically been our primary source of liquidity to fund operations and investments to grow our business. Our current sources of liquidity include available cash balances and proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes. On September 30, 2023, we had $134.9 million in cash and cash equivalents and investments compared to $101.0 million on September 30, 2022, an increase of $33.9 million, or 34%. The increase in cash and cash equivalents and investments is primarily due to cash flows from operations of $31.6 million and net proceeds from the issuance of our common stock, par value $0.001 per share (“Common Stock”) under the Mitek Systems, Inc. Amended and Restated 2020 Incentive Plan (the “2020 Plan”) of $1.7 million.

Cash flows related to operating activities are dependent on net income, non-cash adjustments to net income and changes in working capital. Net cash provided by operating activities during fiscal 2023 was $31.6 million and resulted primarily from net income of $8.0 million, net non-cash charges of $32.6 million, and unfavorable changes in operating assets and liabilities of $9.0 million. The increase in cash provided by operating activities during fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022 was primarily due to an increase in cash from collection of receivables of $23.3 million year over year due to improvements in our collections process, and an increase in other liabilities of $1.7 million. These increases were partially offset by a decrease in deferred revenue in fiscal 2023.

Net cash provided by operating activities during fiscal 2022 was $21.1 million and resulted primarily from net income of $3.7 million, net non-cash charges of $26.7 million, and unfavorable changes in operating assets and liabilities of $9.3 million. Net cash provided by operating activities during fiscal 2021 was $37.3 million and resulted primarily from net income of $8.0 million, net non-cash charges of $27.3 million, and favorable changes in operating assets and liabilities of $2.1 million. The decrease in cash provided by operating activities during fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021 was primarily due to an increase in accounts receivable of $18.2 million, partially offset by a decrease in accrued payroll and related taxes of $1.4 million and increases in restructuring expenses of $1.0 million and the amortization of investment premiums and other of $0.4 million.

Net cash used in investing activities was $6.8 million during fiscal 2023, which consisted primarily of net cash paid in connection with the HooYu Acquisition of $0.3 million and capital expenditures of $1.0 million, and net purchases of investments of $5.5 million. The decrease in cash used in investing activities during fiscal 2023 compared to fiscal 2022 was primarily due to a decrease in net sales and maturities of investments of $131.0 million partially offset by a decrease in cash paid for acquisitions, net of cash acquired of $122.4 million, related to the HooYu Acquisition.

Net cash provided by investing activities was $1.7 million during fiscal 2022, which consisted primarily of net cash paid in connection with the HooYu Acquisition of $122.7 million and capital expenditures of $1.1 million, offset by net sales and maturities of investments of $125.5 million. Net cash used in investing activities was $170.5 million during fiscal 2021, which consisted primarily of net purchases of investments of $156.6 million, net cash paid in connection with the ID R&D Acquisition of $12.5 million, and capital expenditures of $1.4 million. The decrease in cash used in investing activities during fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021 was primarily due to an increase in net sales and maturities of investments of $282.1 million partially offset by an increase in cash paid for acquisitions, net of cash acquired of $110.1 million.

Net cash used in financing activities was $21.1 million during fiscal 2022, which consisted of $15.2 million in repurchases and retirements of our Common Stock and $7.7 million in payments of acquisition-related contingent consideration, partially offset by net proceeds from the issuance of Common Stock under the 2020 Plan of $1.7 million. Net cash provided by financing activities was $143.7 million during fiscal 2021, which consisted of net proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes of $149.7 million, proceeds from the issuance of equity plan Common Stock of $4.0 million and net proceeds from other borrowings of $0.2 million, partially offset by net cash used for the call spreads on the sales and purchases of warrants and convertible senior notes hedge issued in connection with the 2026 Notes of $9.3 million, payment of acquisition-related contingent consideration of $0.8 million, and repurchases and retirements of Common Stock of $0.2 million. The increase in cash used in financing activities during fiscal 2022 compared to fiscal 2021 was primarily due to the net proceeds from the issuance of the 2026 Notes in fiscal 2021 of $149.7 million and repurchases and retirements of our Common Stock of $15.2 million during fiscal 2022.

In February 2021, the Company issued $155.3 million aggregate principal amount of the 2026 Notes (including the Additional Notes, as defined below). The 2026 Notes are senior unsecured obligations of the Company. The 2026 Notes were issued pursuant to an Indenture, dated February 5, 2021 (the “Indenture”), between the Company and UMB Bank, National Association, as trustee. The Indenture includes customary covenants and sets forth certain events of default after which the 2026 Notes may be declared immediately due and payable and sets forth certain types of bankruptcy or insolvency events of default involving the Company after which the 2026 Notes become automatically due and payable. The Company granted the initial purchasers of the 2026 Notes (collectively, the “Initial Purchasers”) a 13-day option to purchase up to an additional $20.25 million aggregate principal amount of the 2026 Notes (the “Additional Notes”), which was exercised in full. The 2026 Notes were purchased in a transaction that was completed on February 5, 2021. As of January 13, 2023 ("Date of Noncompliance"), the Company was not in compliance with certain of the covenants in the Indenture as a result of the Company not timely filing its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2022 (“Form 10-K”) and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 (“Q1 Form 10-Q”) with the SEC. As a result of not being in compliance, the 2026 Notes began to accrue additional special interest of 0.25% of the outstanding principal of the 2026 Notes for the 90 days after the Date of Noncompliance and 0.50% of the outstanding principal of the 2026 Notes for the 91st through 180th day after the Date of Noncompliance. The Company subsequently did not timely file its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 (“Q2 Form 10-Q”) and its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2023 (“Q3 Form 10-Q”). The Company then filed its Form 10-K with the SEC on July 31, 2023, its Q1 Form 10-Q with the SEC on September 6, 2023, and its Q2 Form 10-Q with the SEC on September 29, 2023. As a result, the Company was no longer required to accrue additional special interest. As of February 15, 2024, the Company was not in compliance with certain covenants in the Indenture as a result of not timely filing its Form 10-Q for the quarter ended December 31, 2023 with the SEC.

The net proceeds from this offering were approximately $149.7 million, after deducting the Initial Purchasers’ discounts and commissions and the Company’s estimated offering expenses related to the offering. The 2026 Notes will mature on February 1, 2026, unless earlier redeemed, repurchased or converted. The 2026 Notes bear interest from February 5, 2021 at a rate of 0.750% per year payable semiannually in arrears on February 1 and August 1 of each year, beginning on August 1, 2021. The 2026 Notes will be convertible at the option of the holders at any time prior to the close of business on the business day immediately preceding August 1, 2025, only under the following circumstances: (1) during any calendar quarter commencing after the calendar quarter ending on June 30, 2021, if the last reported sale price per share of the Company’s Common Stock exceeds 130% of the conversion price for each of at least 20 trading days during the 30 consecutive trading days ending on, and including, the last trading day of the immediately preceding calendar quarter; (2) during five consecutive business days immediately after any five consecutive trading day period (such five consecutive trading day period, the “measurement period”) in which the trading price per $1,000 principal amount of notes for each trading day of the measurement period was less than 98% of the product of the last reported sale price per share of the Common Stock on such trading day and the conversion rate on such trading day; and (3) upon the occurrence of certain corporate events or distributions on the Common Stock. On or after August 1, 2025, until the close of business on the second scheduled trading day immediately preceding the maturity date, holders may convert all or any portion of the 2026 Notes, in multiples of $1,000 principal amount, at the option of the holder regardless of the foregoing circumstances. Upon conversion, the Company may satisfy its conversion obligation by paying and/or delivering, as the case may be, cash and, if applicable at the Company’s election, shares of Common Stock, based on the applicable conversion rate(s); provided that the Company will be required to settle conversions solely in cash unless and until the Company (i) receives stockholder approval to increase the number of authorized shares of the Common Stock and (ii) reserves such amount of shares of the Common Stock for future issuance as required pursuant to the indenture that will govern the 2026 Notes. The conversion rate for the 2026 Notes will initially be 47.9731 shares of the Common Stock per $1,000 principal amount of 2026 Notes, which is equivalent to an initial conversion price of approximately $20.85 per share of the Common Stock. The initial conversion price of the 2026 Notes represents a premium of approximately 37.5% to the $15.16 per share last reported sale price of the Common Stock on February 2, 2021. The conversion rate is subject to adjustment under certain circumstances in accordance with the terms of the Indenture. The impact of the convertible feature will be dilutive to our earnings per share when our average stock price for the period is greater than the conversion price.

In connection with the issuance of the 2026 Notes, we entered into transactions for convertible notes hedge (the “Notes Hedge”) and warrants (the “Warrant Transactions”). The Notes Hedge was entered into with Bank of America, N.A., Jefferies

In addition, the Warrant Transactions provided us with the ability to acquire up to 7.4 million shares of our Common Stock. The Warrant Transactions will expire ratably during the 80 trading days commencing on and including May 1, 2026 and may be settled in net shares of Common Stock or net cash at the Company’s election. We received $23.9 million in cash proceeds from the Warrant Transactions. As a result of the Warrant Transactions, the Company is required to recognize incremental dilution of earnings per share to the extent the average share price is over $26.53 for any fiscal quarter.

On June 15, 2021, the Board authorized and approved a share repurchase program for up to $15 million of the currently outstanding shares of our Common Stock. The share repurchase program was completed during the second quarter of fiscal 2022 and as such the Company made no purchase during the twelve months ended September 30, 2023. The Company made purchases of $14.8 million, or approximately 886,204 shares, during twelve months ended September 30, 2022 at an average price of $16.73 per share and subsequently retired the shares. The share repurchase program expired on June 30, 2022 and as such no purchases were made after this date. The timing, price and volume of repurchases were based on market conditions, relevant securities laws and other factors. The repurchases were made from time to time, through solicited or unsolicited transactions in the open market, in privately negotiated transactions or pursuant to a share repurchase trading plan.

Our principal executive offices, as well as our research and development facility, are located in approximately 29,000 square feet of office space in San Diego, California and the term of the lease continues through June 30, 2024. The average annual base rent under this lease is approximately $1.2 million per year. In connection with this lease, we received tenant improvement allowances totaling approximately $1.0 million. These lease incentives are being amortized as a reduction of rent expense over the term of the lease.

Our other offices are located in Paris, France; Amsterdam, The Netherlands; New York, New York; Barcelona, Spain; and London, United Kingdom. Other than the lease for our office space in San Diego, California, we do not believe that the leases for our offices are material lease obligations.

On September 30, 2023, we had investments of $76.0 million, designated as available-for-sale debt securities, which consisted of U.S. Treasury notes, asset-backed securities, foreign government and agency securities, and corporate issuances, carried at fair value as determined by quoted market prices for identical or similar assets, with unrealized gains and losses, net of tax, and reported as a separate component of stockholders’ equity. All securities for which maturity or sale is expected within one year are classified as “current” on the consolidated balance sheets. All other securities are classified as “long-term” on the consolidated balance sheets. At September 30, 2023, we had $74.7 million of our available-for-sale securities classified as current and $1.3 million of our available-for-sale securities classified as long-term. At September 30, 2022, we had $58.3 million of our available-for-sale securities classified as current and $10.6 million of our available-for-sale securities classified as long-term.

We had working capital of $138.5 million at September 30, 2023 compared to $89.4 million at September 30, 2022. We do not have any other material cash requirements other than those related to leases as described in Note 10. “Commitments and Contingencies” of the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K. Based on our current operating plan, we believe the current cash and cash equivalent balance and cash expected to be generated from operations will be adequate to satisfy our working capital needs for at least the next twelve months from the date these consolidated financial statements are filed.

Our discussion and analysis of our financial conditions and results of operations are based on our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. The preparation of the financial statements requires us to make estimates and judgements that affect the reported amounts of assets, liabilities, revenues, and expenses and the related disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities. We review our estimates on an

We enter into contractual arrangements with integrators, resellers, and directly with our customers that may include licensing of our software products, product support and maintenance services, SaaS services, consulting services, or various combinations thereof, including the sale of such products or services separately. Our accounting policies regarding the recognition of revenue for these contractual arrangements are fully described in Note 2 of the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K.

The valuation of certain items, including compensation expense related to equity awards granted, involves significant estimates based on underlying assumptions made by management. The valuation of stock options is based upon a Black-Scholes valuation model, which involves estimates of stock volatility, expected life of the instruments and other assumptions. The valuation of performance options, Senior Executive Long Term Incentive Restricted Stock Units, and similar awards are based upon the Monte-Carlo simulation, which involves estimates of our stock price, expected volatility, and the probability of reaching the performance targets.

We estimate income taxes based on the various jurisdictions where we conduct business. Significant judgment is required in determining our worldwide income tax provision. Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. These differences result in deferred tax assets and liabilities, which are reflected in our balance sheets. We then assess the likelihood that deferred tax assets will be realized. A valuation allowance is recorded when it is more likely than not that some of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. When a valuation allowance is established or increased, we record a corresponding tax expense in our statements of operations. We review the need for a valuation allowance each interim period to reflect uncertainties about whether we will be able to utilize deferred tax assets before they expire. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, management considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will be realized. The ultimate realization of deferred tax assets is dependent upon the generation of future taxable income during the periods in which those temporary differences become deductible. We will continue to assess the need for a valuation allowance on the deferred tax asset by evaluating both positive and negative evidence that may exist. Any adjustment to the net deferred tax asset valuation allowance would be recorded in the income statement for the period that the adjustment is determined to be required.

The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve principal while at the same time maximizing after-tax yields without significantly increasing risk. To achieve this objective, we maintain our investment portfolio of cash equivalents and marketable securities in a variety of securities, including corporate debt securities, commercial paper, certificates of deposit, and asset-backed securities. We have not used derivative financial instruments in our investment portfolio, and none of our investments are held for trading or speculative purposes. Short-term and long-term debt securities are generally classified as available-for-sale and consequently are recorded on the consolidated balance sheets at fair value with unrealized gains or losses reported as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of estimated tax. As of September 30, 2023, our marketable securities had remaining maturities between approximately one and 13 months and a fair market value of $76.0 million, representing 19% of our total assets.

The fair value of our cash equivalents and debt securities is subject to change as a result of changes in market interest rates and investment risk related to the issuers’ credit worthiness. We do not utilize financial contracts to manage our investment portfolio’s exposure to changes in market interest rates. A hypothetical 100 basis point increase or decrease in market interest rates would not have a material impact on the fair value of our cash equivalents and debt securities due to the relatively short maturities of these investments. While changes in market interest rates may affect the fair value of our investment portfolio, any gains or losses will not be recognized in our results of operations until and unless the investment is sold or if the reduction in fair value was determined to be an other-than-temporary impairment.

We have operations in the United Kingdom, France, the Netherlands, and Spain that are exposed to fluctuations in the foreign currency exchange rate between the U.S. dollar, the Euro, the Ruble, and the British pound sterling. The functional currency of our French, Dutch, and Spanish operations is the Euro and the functional currency of our United Kingdom operations is the British pound sterling. Our results of operations and cash flows are subject to fluctuations due to changes in foreign currency exchange rates, particularly changes in the Euro. Translation adjustments resulting from translating the functional currency financial statements into U.S. dollar equivalents are reported separately in the consolidated statements of operations and other comprehensive income (loss).

We do not believe that inflation had a material effect on our business, financial condition or results of operations in the last three fiscal years. If our costs were to become subject to significant inflationary pressures, we may not be able to fully offset such higher costs through price increases. Our inability or failure to do so could harm our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We maintain disclosure controls and procedures, as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), that are designed to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in the SEC rules and forms, and that such information is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required financial disclosures.

Notwithstanding the identified material weaknesses, management believes the consolidated financial statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K present fairly, in all material respects, the Company’s financial position, results of operations and cash flows as of and for the periods presented, in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States of America (“U.S. GAAP”).

Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act). The Company’s internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of the Company’s financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with U.S. GAAP. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that:

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect all misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. A material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the Company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.

The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of September 30, 2023, has been audited by BDO USA, P.C., an independent registered public accounting firm, and their attestation is included herein.

In order to address and resolve the material weaknesses, management, with oversight from the Company’s Audit Committee, has developed a detailed plan for remediation, which includes:

The Company is committed to remediating the material weaknesses and is making progress in that effort. The actions the Company is taking are subject to ongoing evaluation. When fully implemented and operational, the Company believes the measures described above will remediate the underlying causes of the control deficiencies that gave rise to the material weaknesses and strengthen the Company’s internal control over financial reporting. These remediation efforts were in process during the fiscal year ending September 30, 2023. The Company will not be able to fully remediate these material weaknesses until these steps have been completed and have been operating effectively for a sufficient period of time. The Company may also identify additional measures that may be required to remediate the material weaknesses in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting, necessitating further action.

The Company has worked towards implementing processes and procedures to remediate the material weaknesses noted above. There have been no changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting during the year ended September 30, 2023 other than the remediation plan disclosed above that have materially affected, or that are reasonably likely to materially affect, its internal control over financial reporting.

On March 17, 2024, the Board approved an amendment and restatement of our second amended and restated bylaws (the “Third Amended and Restated Bylaws”) to (1) clarify the voting standard for matters voted upon by our stockholders, (2) address the universal proxy rules promulgated by the SEC, as set forth in Rule 14a-19 of the Exchange Act, (3) enhance disclosure requirements and procedural mechanics in connection with director nominations and business proposals by stockholders, (4) enhance the adjournment requirements to reflect changes in the Delaware General Corporation Law, (5) revise the advance notice provisions to update the definition of “acting in concert,” (6) clarify the requirement that we make a stockholder list available during a meeting of stockholders, and (7) make various other conforming, technical and non-substantive changes.

The foregoing summary does not purport to be complete and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the full text of the Third Amended and Restated Bylaws, a copy of which is filed as Exhibit 3.3 to this Annual Report on Form 10-K and incorporated herein by reference.

On March 17, 2024, the Board, based upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee of the Board, approved the Company’s annual incentive program for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2024 (the “2024 Plan”). Pursuant to the terms of the 2024 Plan, certain full time permanent employees of the Company, including the Company’s executive team, will be eligible to receive cash bonuses based upon the achievement of certain corporate and individual performance goals during the 2024 fiscal year. These bonuses are designed to attract, motivate, retain and reward the Company’s employees and executive team.

Under the 2024 Plan, achievement is tied to two financial metrics, revenue and non-GAAP operating income calculated with respect to the Company’s overall company-wide revenue and to revenue generated by key business areas (deposits, identity, and ID R&D). Participants are assigned to either the company-wide category or to a combination of a primary business area and the company-wide revenue for purposes of the 2024 Plan. For participants who are director-level and above, 70% of the target incentive is based upon achievement of the revenue components of the 2024 Plan (with either (i) 100% of such target based upon overall company-wide revenue; or (ii) 55 percentage points of such target based upon the assigned specific business area revenue and 15 percentage points of such target based upon the overall company-wide revenue) and the remaining 30% of such target based upon achievement of the non-GAAP operating income component of the 2024 Plan, subject to additional limitations, as set forth in the 2024 Plan. For all other participants, 60% of the target incentive is based upon achievement of the revenue components of the 2024 Plan (with either (i) 100% of such target based upon overall company-wide revenue; or (ii) 50 percentage points of such target based upon the assigned specific business area revenue and 10 percentage points of such target based upon the overall company-wide revenue), 20% of the target incentive is based upon the achievement of the non-GAAP operating income component of the 2024 Plan and the remaining 20% of the target incentive is based upon the achievement of individual objectives, as determined at the sole discretion of the Company, subject to additional limitations, as set forth in the 2024 Plan. For the CEO and direct reports to the CEO, individual achievement against the financial metrics of the 2024 Plan is subject to modification by the Board at their sole discretion by up to 10% of the participants’ target incentive amount based upon individual contribution. For purposes of the 2024 Plan, revenue excludes acquisition-related revenue not included in the original plan targets and is adjusted for acquisition-related write-downs of revenue or deferred revenue.

Under the 2024 Plan, our Chief Executive Officer has a bonus target equal to 120% of his annualized salary; our Chief Financial Officer has a bonus target equal to 65% of his annualized salary; our Chief Legal Officer has a bonus target equal to 60% of his annualized salary and our General Managers have bonus targets equal to 50% of their annualized salaries. The maximum bonus payable to participants is 200% of their respective bonus targets. A named executive officer must be a permanent full-time employee to qualify for participation in the 2024 Plan.

The foregoing description is intended only as a summary of the material terms of the 2024 Plan and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the text of the 2024 Plan, a copy of which is attached as Exhibit 10.25 to this Form 10-K and is incorporated herein by reference.

The following table sets forth the names, ages as of March 19, 2024, and certain other information for each member of our board of directors (the “Board”):