Weve, the B2B m-commerce venture owned by the UK’s three largest operators, has appointed David Sear (pictured) – an executive with a background in the payments industry – as its permanent CEO.

He will replace Nancy Cruickshank, an interim appointment who saw the venture through its successful approval by the EC when it was known as Project Oscar.

Sear previously spent six years at Travelex, the money services group, as a divisional managing director, global business payments. He has also worked for Voca, a UK payment services company. Between 1999 and 2003 he worked for WorldPay, a pioneering online payments firm.

Sear comes on board just as Weve starts to deploy its services, following regulatory approval. The company announced earlier this week that it had integrated Vodafone into its advertising and commerce platform. Telefonica O2 and Everything Everywhere have already joined the system.

Weve’s hiring of Sear indicates the importance that its mobile wallet and payments hold for the company. Yet initially its focus will be in attracting advertisers, for instance through SMS or display ads. The mobile wallet and NFC-based mobile payments feature later in the company’s plans.