The former CEOs of Mastercard and Vanquis have joined the board of UK fintech Pockit in the wake of its acquisition of mobile banking outfit Monese.
Gene Lockhart, the former CEO of Mastercard, and Malcolm Le May, the ex-CEO of Vanquis Banking Group will take seats on the board of Pockit as the vendor prepares for a new phase of growth.
In addition to Mastercard International, Lockhart was also president of the global retail bank at Bank of America and CEO at Midland Bank.
Since departing Mastercard, Lockhart has been an avid investor in tthe fintech space.. He is chairman emeritus and co-founder of Mission OG, a growth fund in the USA, and he is currently a senior advisor to Blackstone. He has also served as a special adviser at General Atlantic and a Venture Partner at Oak Investment Partners. In addition, Lockhart was chairman of Netspend and an early investor in Nubank. Through Mission OG he was an investor and board member at Featurespace.
Le May is an experienced non-executive director who has worked at financial institutions including RSA plc, IG Group and Hastings Group, as well as serving as a senior Advisor at EY. He spent his executive career in corporate and investment banking, asset management and private equity, including senior roles at ING, UBS, Barclays and BZW.
Talking of his new role at Pockit, Lockhart states: “Having led some of the world’s largest financial services organisations and been so closely involved with some of the most successful global fintech businesses, I can see the company’s real potential for further growth and am excited to play my part in that.”
In acquiring Monese earlier this month, Pockit says it aims to create the leading fintech for the financially underserved and lower-middle-income consumers across the UK and Europe, serving around three million customers and generating almost £30 million in annualised run-rate revenue.
Pockit will benefit from Monese’s regulatory infrastructure (including electronic money and consumer credit licenses) and geographic footprint as well as products, including Monese’s multi-currency accounts.
Pockit and its shareholders, led by Puma Growth Partners, Concentric and the Jatania family are making a significant injection of up to £15 million in equity capital to fund the integration and future growth of the business.
Virraj Jatania, CEO and founder of Pockit, comments: “The acquisiton of Monese is a game-changer for Pockit, adding real scale to our business and opening up a range of exciting new growth opportunities. This is therefore the optimal time for us to be strengthening our corporate governance and building out our board with the addition of two industry stalwarts in Gene and Malcolm.”