The executive team

Luup is driven by a highly experienced team recruited from the mobile and payment industries.The Chairman of the Board is Lord Howard of Lympne, who held several British Cabinet positions, including Home Secretary.

Luup supports global and regional financial institutions from its head office in London. It also has an R&D hub in Norway and a commercial centre in the UAE.

• Martin Wilson - Chief Executive Officer

  

  As CEO, Martin is responsible for leading Luup to achieve its strategy and business objectives including driving revenue growth for the company and its customers. He is an experienced leader with a demonstrable track record of delivering transformational performance and has a strong customer focus.

  Martin has over 20 years experience in delivering mission critical IT systems combined with over 12 years in developing and growing businesses in the payments industry. Before joining Luup, he was CEO of Castle Rock Consultancy. Prior to that he was Executive Director and Chief Commercial Officer for Voca and VocaLink, where he led the company from a domestic not-for-profit utility to a successful international commercial enterprise. He successfully delivered an ambitious global strategy for growth and commercial development including the formation of E and M businesses and the introduction of the Faster Payments service in the UK.
  Martin has held a wide range of directorships and is regularly invited to speak at industry conferences.

• Ian Bastow - Chief Financial Officer

  

  As Chief Financial Officer, Ian is responsible for financial planning and control at Luup, supporting revenue growth for the company and its customers. His expertise in corporate finance, fund-raising and international expansion projects stems from fourteen years of executive-level experience within both blue chip and start-up organisations.

  Before joining Luup, Ian was Chief Financial Officer at ARKeX, a high-tech geophysical surveying company where he raised £26m of funding while helping to expand the company across four continents. Prior to this Ian was Finance Director of PARC Technologies, a telecoms software provider, where he served as a core member of the management team leading the company from start-up through to £15m in second-round funding, culminating in a successful acquisition by Cisco Systems.

  Ian holds an MBA with Distinction from London Business School and is a Chartered Management Accountant.

• Georg Fasching - Vice President, Products and Solutions

  

  As Vice President, Products & Solutions, Georg is responsible for managing Luup’s product portfolio and optimising the solutions offering for all customer segment, enhancing customers’ access to new revenue generating business models and services.

  Prior to joining Luup, Georg was a Senior Product Development Manager at MasterCard Worldwide, where he led the development of the Mobile MoneySend platform, including product development and deployment. Georg also created MasterCard's Mobile Partner Programme. Previously Georg was Global Projects Manger at Minick Ltd. in charge of mobile commerce consulting and developing mobile marketing campaigns. His achievements also include the acquisition of a banking license and the rollout of mobile payment and mobile wallet services for T-Mobile International, as part of their Mobile Payment Solutions business unit.

• Nigel Hirst - Chief Legal Officer

  

  As Chief Legal Officer, Nigel is responsible for all legal, compliance and risk affairs at Luup and collaborates with Luup's Compliance Officer and Products Group ensuring that regulatory procedures are monitored and implemented. Nigel is also Company Secretary and group HR Director.

  Before taking up his position at Luup, Nigel was General Counsel for the Spendvision group where he set up the legal and compliance functions. Prior to that he was Senior Solicitor at Hogg Robinson PLC; Director of European Legal and Commercial Affairs at TWIinteractive (a division of IMG) and a solicitor at Norton Rose. 
  Nigel graduated from Oriel College, Oxford with an MA in Jurisprudence before taking his Law Society Finals at Manchester Polytechnic.

• Bob Silverman - Chief Operating Officer

  

  As Chief Operating Officer, Bob is responsible for the global operation of the Luup mobile payment products and managed services, ensuring customers can take full advantage of Luup’s capabilities. Bob has overall responsibility for IT Operations, Development, Customer Support and Systems Integration departments.

  Bob has been a COO and FTSE 100 CIO/IT Director with both strategic and operational remit for major change programmes. Working in the largest and most successful businesses in their sectors, he used in-depth understanding of operations and technology and their impact as a powerful tool to improve business performance.  Before joining Luup Bob was the COO of Cardif Pinnacle, the UK insurance arm of BNP Paribas. He held overall responsibility for the delivery of a strategic business changing programme to realign their client offering in the face ever changing and tightening regulatory control. Prior to that Bob set up his own business, providing strategic operational and delivery advice to organisations such as Lloyds of London and Manpower.

  Bob is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales.

• Morten Hofstad - Regional Director Middle East, Africa and India

  

  As Regional Director Middle East, Africa and India, Morten heads up the rollout of Luup’s solutions to financial institutions across the regions. He also instigates business partnerships with other relevant players in the mobile payments and remittance ecosystem.

  He has more than sixteen years of experience in business development and technology, focusing his expertise on electronic financial services and leading mobile payment institutions. His achievements include being the first to take electronic mobile payments to the Middle East region. Prior to Luup, Morten was Chief Executive Officer of Contopronto, founders of the Luup m-payment platform and the first company in Europe to receive a full European Union e-money license. Before Morten served as Chief Executive Officer of You Communication AS, one of the most influential mobile operations in Norway, where he was instrumental in working with RIM and TrigCom to facilitate the introduction of Blackberry in Norway in 2005. In addition Morten is a former Chief Executive Officer of online advertising company Webad AS, part of the NASDAQ-listed Modern Times Group MTG.

  Morten has a Degree in Marketing from NMH, Oslo, Norway

• Saqib Iqbal - Regional Director Asia Pacific

  

  As Regional Director Asia Pacific, Saqib has been executing Luup's strategy of building partnerships in countries receiving international remittances, driving an expansion of Luup's mobile payment platform across the region.

  Saqib has over 22 years of experience working in the Middle East, Asia and Africa in the IT and Communications industry. He worked with Oracle Corporation for over 12 years developing their business in emerging markets and he also established and led Oracle's Telecom Industry Vertical for the Middle East, Africa and Mediterranean region. He then led a joint initiative between Oracle and the Government of Dubai to establish a B2B eMarketplace, which culminated in the company becoming one of the most successful eMarketplaces in the region. He later led a consulting practice advising companies in the telecoms and financial services sector.

  Saqib holds a Computer Science degree from the University of Texas at Austin, USA