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Monitise Plc
Company typePublic
IndustryFinancial services Financial technology
PredecessorSubsidiary of Morse Plc, Demerged in 2007
Founded2003 (2003) (demerged from Morse in 2007)
FoundersAlastair Lukies; Steve Atkinson
Defunct2017 (2017)
FateAcquired
SuccessorFiserv
Headquarters
London
,
United Kingdom
Key people
Lee Cameron (CEO)
ProductsFINkit - Financial services digital innovation platform
Revenue£40m (2016)
OwnersVisa Inc 5% shareholder, Norway's Norges Bank, 3i Group,[1] Alastair Lukies & public shareholders
Number of employees
750[2] (2013)
Websitemonitise.com [dead link‍]

Monitise was a British fintech company that provided mobile banking services and technology for mobile phones to financial institutions.[3]

Monitise was founded by Alastair Lukies and Steven Atkinson in 2003 with headquarters in London, United Kingdom.[2] It also had operations in the United States, Turkey, and Cardiff, Wales.[4][5]

In 2016 the company reported heavy losses. Shares in Monitise were down 96 per cent between 2014 and 2016. After the losses, the company was acquired by Fiserv, a US provider of financial services technology, on 1 September 2017.[6]

History

[edit]

Foundation

[edit]

Monitise was founded in 2003 by Alastair Lukies and Steven Atkinson, former head of policy at Vodafone.[7] Securing investment for Monitise proved difficult initially until in 2006, the company became part of Morse Plc.[8] During this period that Monitise built a mobile banking, payments and commerce ecosystem.[9]

In 2006 Monitise announced a joint venture with LINK,[10] provider of the UK's ATM network, to develop mobile banking. In October 2006, HSBC and First Direct launched MONILINK,[11] a mobile banking service developed jointly by Monitise and LINK. It offered customers 24-hour access to banking services via their mobile phone, including mini-statements and balance enquiries.

De-merger with Morse

[edit]

In June 2007, Monitise demerged from Morse and the company listed on the London Stock Exchange's AIM in June 2007.[8][12] The de-merger raised £21.4 million[13] in shares sold to investors and other institutions.

Monitise was named as one of the UK's top 15 fastest growing technology businesses in Deloitte's 2011, 2012 and 2013 Technology Fast 50.[14]

2007-2012

[edit]

In September 2007, Monitise launched Monitise Americas, a joint venture with Metavante Corporation, a provider of banking and payments technologies to global financial institutions and businesses. To create a mobile banking and payments ecosystem tailored for the North American market, Monitise Americas engineered its platform in order to “deliver a service that is universal in terms of security, access and navigation regardless of the consumer's choice of financial institution or mobile carrier".[15]

On 30 June 2009, Monitise announced that it had entered into a global alliance agreement with Visa International, a subsidiary of Visa Inc.. Monitise would work as a partner for Visa's mobile services. These included mobile payments, money transfer, transaction alerts and marketing offers.[16]

In 2011, Monitise signed a partnership agreement with Visa Europe to develop and supply mobile payments services for Visa Europe's member banks and financial institutions across Europe.

Further expansion in 2011 included the creation of a technology and R&D hub in Cardiff, Wales.[17]

2012-2016

[edit]

On 26 March 2012, Monitise announced its acquisition of Clairmail, a third-party for mobile banking solutions in the U.S.[18][19] At the time of the acquisition, Monitise and Clairmail had 13 million registered consumers across four continents.[20] Later in 2012, in June and July respectively, Monitise announced partnerships with HSBC[21] and The Co-operative Bank.[22]

In March 2013, Monitise extended its partnership with VISA Europe in a three-year partnership deal. The deal, which enables VISA Europe to license all of Monitise's mobile money technology, covering three product areas: Bank Anywhere, Pay Anyone and Buy Anything.[23] In September 2013 Monitise acquired London-based mobile innovation and design agency Grapple Mobile Ltd, which became known as Monitise Create. Later that month, Monitise announced an alliance with IBM's Smarter Commerce initiative to help extend its mobile banking services to VISA Europe.[24]

In February 2014, Monitise acquired Istanbul-based mobile technology specialist Pozitron, listed as one of the top 10 fastest growing businesses in Turkey by Deloitte.[25] In March 2014, Monitise and MasterCard announced a commercial agreement to accelerate the development and deployment of mobile wallets and digital payment solutions by financial institutions. MasterCard also took a minority stake in Monitise as part of a £109million share-placing.[26] In June 2014, Monitise acquired Markco Media's leading retailer offers, content and discount network, which includes the MyVoucherCodes brand. The acquisition augmented Monitise's Buy Anything mobile commerce product offerings.[27]

In 2015, Monitise announced that revenue declined 6% to £89.7m (FY 2014: £95.1m), changes to the board and progress on transition to cloud. Elizabeth Buse stepped down as CEO and from the Board, on 9 September 2015, and deputy CEO and Chief Commercial Officer Lee Cameron was appointed Monitise's new CEO.[28][29]

Losses and closure

[edit]

In 2016, the company reported heavy losses. Shares in Monitise were down 96 per cent over the previous two years. At the start of 2014 its market cap exceeded £1bn, but by May 2016, its market cap had dropped to £66m. An unsuccessful attempt to sell the company's voucher business and management turnover contributed to the decline. [30]

The company was acquired by Fiserv on the 1 September 2017.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Visa invests more in Monitse". Reuters. 24 August 2012. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b Torney, Chris (15 February 2013). "Monitise: the story of a UK mid-market champion".
  3. ^ "MONI".
  4. ^ "Contact Us | Monitise". www.monitise.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  5. ^ "Monitise FINkit". YouTube. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  6. ^ "Fiserv Completes Acquisition of Monitise plc". finance.yahoo.com. Retrieved 28 September 2017.
  7. ^ "Rugby star turned super-unicorn hopeful: Monitise boss Alastair Lukies". Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  8. ^ a b "FE Investegate |Morse PLC Announcements | Morse PLC: Proposed Demerger of Monitise". www.investegate.co.uk. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  9. ^ "Innovate Finance - Monitise". www.innovatefinance.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  10. ^ "Banco Santander and Monitise to launch a fintech joint venture | Monitise". www.monitise.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  11. ^ "HSBC and first direct break new ground with launch of next generation mobile phone banking through MONILINK - Social Media Newsroom | first direct". www.newsroom.firstdirect.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  12. ^ "AIM Placing, 22p a share". Finextra. 25 June 2007.
  13. ^ "Morse placement of Monitise shares nets £21.4 million to fund expansion". Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  14. ^ "Monitise in 2013 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 for third year running | Monitise". www.monitise.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  15. ^ "agitmonitise.com". www.agitmonitise.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  16. ^ "Monitise seals $13 mln mobile money deal with Visa". Archived from the original on 30 June 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  17. ^ "Mobile banking firm Monitise's 40 new jobs in Nantgarw".
  18. ^ "Monitise plc: Acquisition of Clairmail Inc". Retrieved 22 July 2016.[dead link‍]
  19. ^ Rooney, Ben. "Monitise Buys U.S.-Based Clairmail". Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  20. ^ "Mobile Money Gets Another Boost As Monitise Closes Clairmail Acquisition «  Visa's Blog – Visa Viewpoints". www.visa.com. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  21. ^ "LSE:MONI: Monitise and HSBC launch Fast Balance". Interactive Investor. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Monitise signs deal with Co-operative for banking app". Mobile News Online. Retrieved 22 July 2016.
  23. ^ Lunden, Ingrid. "Visa Inks $59M Deal To Extend Mobile Money Partnership With Monitise In Europe". TechCrunch. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  24. ^ "Monitise acquires Grapple Mobile Ltd | Monitise". www.monitise.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  25. ^ "Monitise targets Turkish mobile money » Banking Technology". www.bankingtech.com. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  26. ^ "MasterCard and Monitise Partner to Deliver Digital Payment Services". MasterCard Social Newsroom. Retrieved 25 July 2016.
  27. ^ O'Hear, Steve. "Monitise Acquires Markco Media For Up To £55M, Includes MyVoucherCodes And Last Second Tickets". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  28. ^ "Monitise losses widen - CEO steps down - Payments Cards & Mobile". 9 September 2015. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  29. ^ "Monitise announces 2015 results, board changes and progress on transition to cloud | Monitise". www.monitise.com. Retrieved 2 August 2016.
  30. ^ Fedor, Lauren (31 May 2016). "Monitise drops plans to sell voucher business". Financial Times.
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