ImageWare Systems Issues Corporate Update SAN DIEGO,

SAN DIEGO, CA--(Marketwired - May 10, 2013) - ImageWare Systems, Inc. ( OTCQB : IWSY ), a leader in multi-modal biometric security management solutions, has issued a corporate update to highlight the company's progress since its last update on April 1, 2013.

Progress Overview and Outlook

Since ImageWare's last update in April, the company has achieved multiple milestones in product development and market penetration.

During the first quarter of 2013, ImageWare entered into a contract with Fujitsu to market a cloud-based, multi-modal biometric identity management offering delivered on the Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform (FGCP). The FGCP is believed to be one of the world's largest cloud platforms and features ImageWare's CloudID™ product suite, which is anchored by its patented, multi-modal Biometric Engine® 2.0.

Subsequent to the first quarter, the FGCP was marketed in North America and, as a result, ImageWare secured its first agreement in connection with this contract. Today the company announced an agreement with Emida, a leader in the global prepayment and value transfer market, to provide cloud identity management services for mobile wallet subscribers and partners using its patented CloudID software-as-a-service. The solution will run on top of the FGCP.

Together, ImageWare and Fujitsu will deliver a fully-validated, feature-rich security solution that will provide unprecedented identity and value exchange protection for financial transactions. Under the agreement, ImageWare's services will be delivered on a subscription fee basis.

Emida currently operates in 37 countries throughout the world and supports a network of more than 54,000 retail points. With an annualized dollar payment volume in excess of $1.5 billion and more than 240 million payment transactions processed each year, partnering with Emida presents an attractive opportunity for ImageWare and showcases its "plug-in" approach for cloud-based identity management applications.

"The proactive steps we have taken to position ImageWare as a leader in multi-modal biometric security for the cloud and mobile markets are beginning to show results," said Jim Miller, chairman and CEO of ImageWare. "Our partnership with Fujitsu to utilize their secure global cloud platform is paving the way for a swift entry into these markets, as evidenced by our recent agreement with Emida. Together with Fujitsu, we expect to see significant momentum in similar partnerships as we plan to collaborate on a global expansion model in the near future. In fact, we are currently in discussions with several clients regarding licensing opportunities and will continue to target large enterprise businesses and emerging applications."

Since the last corporate update, ImageWare has also continued to develop and advance its biometric-secured, mobile transaction technology that is built upon the wireless push technology and related patents it acquired from VOCEL last year. ImageWare now has a production release of this mobile technology on the Android platform and plans to release its iPhone demonstration model in the near future. In addition, ImageWare is currently in substantive discussions with several new clients regarding licensing opportunities.

Integrating interactive messaging technology with ImageWare's Biometric Engine provides the missing security link that faces a growing number of enterprises and government agencies using mobile platforms to transact business or interact with their users. The solution is applicable for healthcare, law enforcement, banking and retail, or any organization requiring highly-reliable and flexible identity verification of their mobile users.

Miller concluded: "Over the last year, we have taken significant steps to strengthen our internal resources, enhance our product offering and further penetrate the commercial and consumer markets. As a result, we have begun to see our revenue model change as our dependency upon larger government clients with lumpy and difficult to predict revenues is nearing an end. By licensing our products on a service or transactional basis to a broad base of clients, we can significantly increase revenues, provide forward-looking visibility and drive shareholder value well into the future."

Conference Call

ImageWare will hold a conference call today at 1:00 p.m. Eastern time (10:00 a.m. Pacific time) to provide a corporate update. The company's Chairman and CEO Jim Miller and CFO Wayne Wetherell will host the conference call, followed by a question and answer period.

Date: Friday, May 10, 2013 Time: 1:00 p.m. Eastern time (10:00 a.m. Pacific time) Dial-In number: 1-877-941-4775 International number: 1-480-629-9761 Conference ID: 4618344

Please call the conference telephone number 5-10 minutes prior to the start time. An operator will register your name and organization. If you have any difficulty connecting with the conference call, please contact Liolios Group at 1-949-574-3860.

The conference call will be broadcast live and available for replay at http://public.viavid.com/index.php?id=104650 and via ImageWare's investor relations section at www.iwsinc.com .

A replay of the conference call will be available after 4:00 p.m. Eastern time on the same day through June 10, 2013.

Toll-free Replay Number: 1-877-870-5176 International Replay Number: 1-858-384-5517 Replay ID: 4618344

About ImageWare Systems, Inc.

ImageWare Systems, Inc. ( OTCQB : IWSY ) is a leading developer of identity management solutions, providing biometric, secure credential and law enforcement technologies. Scalable for worldwide deployment, ImageWare's biometric product line includes a multi-biometric engine that is hardware and algorithm independent, enabling the enrollment and management of unlimited population sizes. ImageWare's identification products are used to manage and issue secure credentials, including national IDs, passports, driver's licenses, smart cards and access control credentials. ImageWare's digital booking products provide law enforcement with integrated mug shot, fingerprint livescan and investigative capabilities. ImageWare is headquartered in San Diego, CA, with offices in Portland, OR, Washington, D.C., and Ottawa, Ontario. For more information on ImageWare Systems, Inc., visit www.iwsinc.com .

Forward Looking Statements

Any statements contained in this document that are not historical facts are forward-looking statements as defined in the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as "anticipate," "believe," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "intend," "may," "plan," "project," "predict," "if", "should" and "will" and similar expressions as they relate to ImageWare Systems, Inc. ("ImageWare") are intended to identify such forward-looking statements. ImageWare may from time to time update these publicly announced projections, but it is not obligated to do so. Any projections of future results of operations should not be construed in any manner as a guarantee that such results will in fact occur. These projections are subject to change and could differ materially from final reported results. For a discussion of such risks and uncertainties, see "Risk Factors" in ImageWare's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2012 and its other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the dates on which they are made.