Monitise plc [LSE: MONI.L] has been awarded The Banker Magazine 2008 Technology Award for Mobile Payments.  It recognises the success of the MONILINK ‘mobile money' service which, since its launch in 2006, has become the industry standard for mobile banking and payments in the UK and positioned Britain as a global leader in mobile financial services.

The MONILINK service already allows customers of some of the UK's leading banks, including Alliance & Leicester, first direct, HSBC, NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland and Ulster Bank, across all the major mobile networks, to manage their money on the move.  Currently, this includes the ability to top-up pre-pay mobile phones directly from their bank accounts, check the balance of their accounts and request mini-statements from almost any location in the world.  In the coming months a number of new payment services will provide customers with even greater financial control directly from their handset. 

MONILINK is a joint venture with Vocalink, the UK based specialist in transaction services and operators of the UK ATM network.  Monitise has also developed similar ‘mobile money' services in the United States and Canada, in partnership with Metavante Corporation, and is in the process of developing a service for East Africa in partnership with Made In Africa, the founders of the Ugandan Stock Exchange.

Alastair Lukies, chief executive, Monitise plc said: "Already thousands of UK consumers rely on our service to keep in touch with their finances on a day to day basis and I am delighted that we have been rewarded for the second year running by The Banker Magazine and its panel of industry experts. 

"MONILINK is recognised as the ‘gold standard' for mobile banking and payments by experts across the globe and is a terrific example of how British innovation continues to set the standard for new technology development worldwide."

The judging panel for the award consisted of some of the world's foremost financial services experts chaired by Michelle Price, Technology Editor of The Banker and including John Meakin, group head of information security for Standard Chartered, Eric Sepkes, formerly cash management strategy director, EMEA at Citi and Clive Hawkins, global head of FX and Money Markets technology for UBS Investment Bank.