Dutch near field communication service provider Payter is to close down its NFC payments service in Rotterdam, citing an inability to gain sufficient scale as the main problem. The service launched in 2007 and Payter originally planned to roll out the system nationwide as early as 2008. The national plans had already been put on hold in January this year, however.

In a statement, the company explains that it will stop operating its mobile payments service in Rotterdam on 1 December 2009. “Our goal was to provide a mobile wallet and test it out in a live environment in Rotterdam,” says Payter. “This goal has been largely achieved and we are proud to be one of the first and largest trials of mobile payment of its kind in the world,” the company continues.

“Despite the more than 1,400 enthusiastic users and over 100 merchants in Rotterdam, there was insufficient scale to further develop existing services,” says Payter. “The rollout of the service on a large scale is an important prerequisite for success. Payter has been working on securing new partnerships with reputable parties to achieve this. They are expanding rapidly, but in the short term may not provide the necessary scale. This has meant that we have taken the decision to stop the service in Rotterdam. We are now focusing on entering into collaborations with other parties to deliver the technology on a larger scale at home and abroad.”

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