(Reuters) - Monitise Plc, a
provider of mobile banking and payment systems, has
hired a former Visa Inc executive to co-run the company
as it pursues a sevenfold increase in users by 2018.
Shares of Monitise rose more than 7 percent on Wednesday morning
after the company announced the appointment of Elizabeth Buse as
co-chief executive.
Buse, 53, will work alongside Monitise's founder and current chief
executive, Alastair Lukies. Her appointment is effective
immediately.
"Her joining gives a lot of credibility to Monitise as a business
and to their claim of gaining market share in the business in the
U.S.," said Ali Khwaja, analyst at Berenberg bank.
Founded in 2003, Monitise says it processes mobile payments,
purchases and transfers to the value of $71 billion annually. Its
customers include Telefonica SA, Samsung Electronics Co Ltd,
MasterCard Inc and Visa.
The company, which has a market capitalization of 1.17 billion
pounds ($1.96 billion), this year unveiled plans to increase the
number of its registered users to 200 million by 2018 from 28
million.
Buse, a U.S. national, will take over the running of Monitise's
day-to-day operations and will oversee technology, sales and
marketing. Lukies will focus on corporate development and key
relationships with partners and major shareholders.
"The co-CEO approach has been more successful when there is a clear
separation of areas of responsibility," Mark Palmer, analyst at BTIG,
wrote in a note. "(Monitise) appears to have created such a clear
separation between the roles."
Buse was on Monitise's board from July 2010 until October 2012. She
joined Visa in 1998 and held several senior positions at the company
before stepping down as executive vice-president of solutions in
March.
She holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Haas
School at the University of California Berkeley. She has been
granted 5 million share options with an exercise price of 1 pence.
Monitise's shares were up 3.6 percent at 66.88 pence at 1135 GMT.
($1 = 0.5974 British Pounds)
