Buse will oversee technology, product, sales and marketing while Lukies focuses on relationships with partners and industry stakeholders, corporate development and major shareholders. She has been given five million share options on joining the company.

Buse quit her role running international operations at Visa in March after a 16-year career at the card giant during which she also held positions as global head of product and EVP of emerging markets and technologies.

As well as becoming co-CEO, she is also returning to the Monitise board, which she was a member of between 2010 and 2012 after Visa made an investment in the UK firm.

Says Buse: "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"

Bringing in Buse is designed to help Monitise in its efforts to overhaulits business model, as outlined earlier this year. The firm is ditching big upfront license fees in favour of a subscription-based system designed to cut costs for banks and boost its own long-term annuities. This, it is hoped, will help it rapidly build its base of registered users from around 28 million to 200 million over the next four years.

Meanwhile, Monitise has also added Amanda Burton, global COO at Clifford Chance, and Paulette Garafalo, president of Brooks Brothers international, wholesale and manufacturing as non-executive directors.