Alastair Lukies: Monitise

Alastair Lukies, 33
Company: Monitise
Web: www.monitise.com

Recognised as a technology pioneer by the World Economic Forum, Monitise can now count Google and eBay among its peers. Not bad for a 100-strong, AIM-listed, London-based firm. The technology, which enables customers to use mobile handsets to access their bank accounts, is used by major UK banks and the business is expanding globally through joint ventures and licensing. Lukies is also reaching out to the non-banking population of four billion, two-thirds of whom have access to a mobile network.

2013 update:

Under Lukies’ guidance as CEO, Monitise has grown to become the largest mobile money specialist in the world; the company turned over £36m in the year ending June 2012 with this almost doubling to approximately £70m this year. The company oversaw a huge 2 billion transactions last year, and its dominance of the mobile payments market shows no signs of abating.

2016 update: 

Instead of an expected 25% rise in revenues to £119m in 2015, Monitise’s turnover remained flat at £90m to £100m, dropping down to £40m by the end of the financial year 2016. Prior to this it had reached a peak stock market value of £1.2bn by January 2014. Lukies exited Monitise in 2015 after share prices fell by 17%, but has remained in an advisory role. Following these events the company underwent a major restructuring, downsizing its employee base from more than 1,000 to below 300. Lukies is now focused on his role as a business ambassador for the government for the financial services industry and as chair of fintech organisation Innovate Finance. In 2014, he was awarded a CBE in the Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to mobile banking and charity.