Optimal Payments appoints to its Board, Dennis Jones as Non-Executive Chairman, Ian Jenks and Andrew Dark as Non-Executive Directors

– USA, NY / UK, London / CANADA, QC – Optimal Payments Plc (LSE AIM: OPAY), a leading global online payments and risk management provider, announces the following changes to the Board of Directors (the “Board”) with immediate effect.

Dennis Jones is appointed as Non-Executive Chairman of the Board and Ian Jenks and Andrew Dark are appointed as Non-Executive Directors of the Board. In addition, John Bateson and Jonathan Comerford have resigned as Non-Executive Directors of the Board.

About Dennis Jones,

aged 64, has had close to 30 years’ experience in payments and payment processing and has held executive roles in the UK, mainland Europe, China and the US where he was a Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of RBS National Bank. Dennis is also currently the Non-Executive Chairman of Optimal Payments Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, having previously been a Director until September 2011. Until 2012, Dennis was a Non-Executive Director of Argus Information Services Inc. (a US provider of data analytics to payment providers across the US, Latin America and the UK) and a Non-Executive Director of Kroger Personal Finance LLC, the financial services arm of the Kroger Corporation, the second largest US retailer. Dennis is a member of the Institution of Engineering and Technology.

About Ian Jenks,

aged 60, has more than 30 years of board level experience in the fields of communications and industrial technology, both as an investor and as Chief Executive Officer of operating companies in the US and Europe. He is currently a director of Birdstep Technology ASA which is publicly listed in Norway and, Econic Technology Limited. Ian previously served as the Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Intune Networks, Ltd. He was formerly a Director of the British Photovolatic Association and a Partner of Crescendo Ventures LLP, Palo Alto and was Non-Executive Chairman of Oplink Communications Inc. and Quantasol Limited and Executive Chairman of Evo Electric Limited.  Ian is an associate member of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.  

About Andrew Dark,

aged 51, is Chief Executive Officer and a Director of Displaydata Limited.  He is also Chairman of Miura Systems Limited and Mappt Limited and a Director of New Era Sports Digital Limited and Non-Executive Director of Wildark Risk Management Limited.  Andrew was formerly Chief Executive Officer and Director of online payments company Datacash Group PLC during its period of rapid growth (subsequently sold to MasterCard) and the former Chief Executive Officer and Director of mBlox Limited which facilitates communication between businesses and customers’ mobile devices; he was also a Director of payments company Dione PLC. 

Joel Leonoff, President and Chief Executive Officer said “I am delighted to welcome Dennis, Ian and Andrew to the Board of Optimal Payments.  Between them they bring a wealth of board level experience in financial and online payment services and other industries and I am sure they will make a significant and valuable contribution to the management and future success of the Company.  On behalf of the Board, I would also like to thank John and Jonathan for their more than five years of service during which time they have provided strong and reliable counsel and helped establish the Company as a leading global payments provider. We wish them well in their future endeavours.”

Dennis Jones, Chairman of the Board said “I’m delighted to bring my extensive global experience of payments to Optimal Payments at this very exciting stage in their evolution. Optimal Payments has an outstanding executive team who I know very well, a superb suite of products, a technology capability that is differentiated and a host of opportunities in markets of which I’m very familiar. I’m looking forward to working with the executive team and playing a full part in the Company’s continuing growth.”

About Optimal Payments Plc

Optimal Payments is a global provider of online payment solutions, trusted by businesses and consumers in over 200 countries and territories to move and manage billions of dollars each year.  Merchants use the NETBANX® platform and services to simplify how they accept credit and debit card, direct-from-bank, and alternative and local payments; and the NETELLER® service to increase revenues and capture new customers.  Consumers use the multilingual and multicurrency NETELLER and Net+® Card stored-value offering to make secure and convenient payments. Optimal Payments Plc is quoted on the London Stock Exchange’s AIM, with a ticker symbol of OPAY.  Subsidiary company Optimal Payments Ltd is authorised and regulated as an e-money issuer by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 900015).

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