Monitise Regulatory News (MONI)

Monitise announces Board appointments

Elizabeth Buse joins Group to work alongside Alastair Lukies in new co-CEO role

Amanda Burton and Paulette Garafalo appointed independent Non-Executive Directors

LONDON - 4 June, 2014 - Monitise plc (LSE: MONI, "Monitise" or the "Company"), a global leader in Mobile Money solutions, today announces a series of updates to its executive leadership team and Board of Directors.

Former Visa Inc. payments executive Elizabeth Buse has been appointed co-Chief Executive of Monitise Group, effective immediately. Elizabeth also joins the Company's Board of Directors.

Elizabeth will work alongside Monitise founder Alastair Lukies in his capacity as CEO of the plc business. Lee Cameron continues his role as the Group's Chief Commercial Officer and Deputy CEO.

Commenting on the appointment, Lukies said: "Elizabeth, who has been familiar with Monitise over a number of years, is a universally respected and talented executive with incredible expertise in international payments."

Elizabeth, an American national who was a member of the Monitise Board from July 2010 to October 2012, will head Monitise's day-to-day operations, overseeing technology, product, sales and marketing while Alastair focuses on key relationships with partners and industry stakeholders, corporate development and major shareholders. Strategy will continue to be set by the executive leadership team in conjunction with the Board.

Monitise's growing ecosystem of partners and clients includes more than 350 banks, payment services companies such as Visa Inc., Visa Europe and MasterCard as well as Vocalink, FIS and IBM. In the mobile space, Monitise's customers include Telefónica, Samsung, PCCW Mobile, Turkcell and BlackBerry. In the retail ecosystem they include brands such as Blackhawk Network Holdings with its network of more than 500 content providers operating in the US and 18 other countries, eBay, Turkey's Bilyoner and Biletix, Venda, B&Q, Carphone Warehouse and Premier Inn.

Alastair and Elizabeth, along with the rest of the Monitise executive team, will lead Monitise as it continues to execute its Mobile Money growth strategy. As announced in March 2014, the Company aims to increase its registered users from 28 million to 200 million by the end of FY 2018, growing its user-generated revenue through mobile banking, payments and commerce.

Lukies added: "I am delighted that Elizabeth is joining us at such an important point in the Monitise journey to help me lead the next chapter in our history. On behalf of our staff around the world I welcome Elizabeth and very much look forward to working shoulder to shoulder with her, leveraging our complementary skills as we capitalise on the global Mobile Money opportunity."

Commenting on her appointment, Buse said: "Monitise occupies a unique position in the global Mobile Money ecosystem as one of the few technology enablers with proven bank-grade solutions across banking, payments and commerce. I am enormously impressed by the Group's quality of products and services, the technology and, most of all, the people. I cannot see a better-placed business to take advantage of the Mobile Money opportunity and am delighted to be joining Monitise."

Elizabeth's appointment comes after she stepped down from her role running international operations at Visa Inc. in March 2014 as Executive Vice President of Solutions. She joined Visa Inc. in 1998 and during her time there held roles including Group President of Asia Pacific, Central Europe, Middle East and Africa, Global Head of Product, Executive Vice President of Product Development and Management and Executive Vice President of Emerging Markets & Technologies.

Prior to joining Visa in 1998, Elizabeth served as Vice President of Strategic Initiatives for the Electronic Funds Division of First Data Corp. Elizabeth has served as a Director at International Museum of Women and was also a Director of Artio Global Investors Inc. from September 2009 to January 29, 2013.

Elizabeth, aged 53, holds a Master's Degree in Business Administration from the Haas School at the University of California Berkeley, is a Graduate Fellow in Spanish Linguistics at the Universidad Complutense in Madrid, Spain, and holds a Bachelor's Degree (BA) in Spanish Linguistics from the University of California, Los Angeles. Elizabeth does not hold any shares in Monitise.

New Non-Executive Directors appointed

Monitise is also pleased to announce today that two new Non-Executive Directors have been appointed to the Group's Board: Amanda Burton and Paulette Garafalo.

Amanda Jane Burton, aged 55, has been Global Chief Operating Officer at Clifford Chance LLP, since 2010. Amanda was appointed to the Board of Galliford Try Plc in July 2005 as Independent Non-Executive Director and has been Senior Independent Director and Chairman of the Remuneration Committee since 2008. She was previously a Non-Executive Director of Fresca Group Limited and a Director of Meyer International plc and Chairman of its Timber Group. Amanda is also a Trustee of Battersea Dogs and Cats Home. Amanda holds 158,449 shares in Monitise, representing 0.01% of the voting rights of the Company.

Paulette Garafalo, aged 57, has been President of Brooks Brothers international, wholesale and manufacturing since 2010, where she has been responsible for developing a global retail business. Paulette was previously CEO of the Americas at the luxury retailer Bally and CEO and Group President of the luxury apparel brand Hickey Freeman. Paulette does not hold any shares in Monitise.

Monitise Chairman Peter Ayliffe said: "We are delighted to welcome Elizabeth, Amanda and Paulette to the Monitise Board. They bring exceptional global experience and knowledge spanning payments, retail, legal and financial services to the table. It says a lot about the business and our ambitions that we are able to attract such outstanding talent to our Board. They join at an incredibly exciting time for the business as we drive deeper in-roads into the mobile commerce space and work towards the delivery of our operating plan through to 2018 as outlined in March this year."

Grant of options

Monitise is also announcing that Elizabeth Buse has today been granted five million options over ordinary shares of 1p each in the company. These options have been granted under the Monitise Performance Share Plan with a 1p exercise price and vest at the end of a three year term from date of grant if the average share price over the three month period immediately prior to vesting is at least 68 pence.

There are no further disclosures required pursuant to Schedule 2, paragraph (g) of the AIM Rules for Companies in respect of the appointments.

Peter Ayliffe, Alastair Lukies, Elizabeth Buse and Lee Cameron will host a conference call for investors and analysts on Wednesday June 4 2014 at 9.00am BST.

Dial-in details are as follows:

Conference ID and name: 54287712 & 'Monitise call'

UK Free Dial-In: 08006940257

Standard International Dial-In: +44 (0) 1452 555566

US Dial-In: +1 (866) 966-9439

A replay facility will also be available from 2pm BST on Wednesday 4 June 2014 on the following numbers:

UK Free Dial-In Call: 08009531533

Standard International: +44 (0)1452 550000

USA Dial-In: +1 (866) 247-4222

The replay facility will be available for seven days.

About Monitise

Monitise (LSE: MONI) is a world leader in Mobile Money - banking, paying and buying with a mobile device. Leading banks, payments companies, retailers and mobile networks utilise Monitise's technology platforms and services to securely connect people with their money. 

Already 28 million consumers benefit from Monitise's patented technology to 'bank anywhere', 'pay anyone' and 'buy anything', accounting for $71bn of payments, purchases and transfers annually. More information is available at www.monitise.com.