The Valyou NFC mobile wallet developed by Norwegian mobile network operator Telenor and banking group DNB is to shut down due to a “much lower than expected end user uptake”. A lack of contactless terminals and of support from other banks and mobile operators are cited as the main reasons.

“After careful consideration of all options, Valyou’s owners have decided to wind down the company,” Valyou said in a statement. “The combination of slower than expected activation of NFC-enabled POS terminals and the engagement of more banks and mobile operators into the cooperation has resulted in a much lower than expected end user uptake.

“Existing Valyou users will continue to be able to pay with Valyou in stores until 30th November when the service will be stopped. Users are assured that they need do nothing with their SIM cards and that all bank cards in their mobile wallet will be automatically deleted by the user’s bank. All users will have by now, already received this information on SMS.”

“We in Valyou are convinced that this type of mobile payment solution is the future and that Valyou has built the most user friendly and future proofed mobile payment technology on the market today — that Apple and Samsung have also chosen this technology only confirms that we made the right choices,” the company adds.

“That said, we must accept that, while users of Valyou have been very satisfied with the payment experience, the market is not yet ready for this kind of solution and the closure of the company is a sad consequence of this fact.”

The service launched nationwide across Norway in November 2014 and was first detailed at Mobile World Congress in 2013.

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