Barclaycard, Orange Signal End to Quick Tap Payments

One of the first mobile payment applications in the U.K. has run its course.

Barclaycard and telco Orange have informed customers that the Quick Tap contactless mobile payment service will end on Oct. 30.

Barclaycard introduced Quick Tap to its customers in 2011 as a follow-up to the tap-and-pay payment card it launched about four years before.

The decision to end Quick Tap follows Orange parent Everything Everywhere's launch last year of Cash on Tap, a similar system that consumers can use mostly for transportation systems and low-value transactions in the U.K.

EE partnered with MasterCard to provide Cash on Tap, allowing consumers with Near Field Communication-enabled phones to make contactless payments and ticketing transactions.

 "Quick Tap was always seen by Barclaycard mostly as a first-generation experiment with mobile contactless payments," said Zil Bareisis, a London-based senior analyst for research firm Celent.

Barclaycard didn't heavily promote Quick Tap at launch, and some consumers were not aware they had the Quick Tap option on their phones at the outset, Bareisis said.

"The success of person-to-person solutions such as Barclays' own Pingit, and new technologies such as host card emulation and other developments, meant it was only a matter of time until Barclaycard reconsidered its options," Bareisis added.

Quick Tap customers have 60 days, from Sept. 1, to use any money left in their Quick Tap accounts and should not load any more funds unless they intend to use it in that timeframe, Barclaycard stated in an e-mail to customers. PaymentsSource obtained a copy of that letter.

Barclaycard will send checks to customers for any balances of more than £2.50 ($4.10 U.S.) after Oct. 30. Balances of less than £2.50 will be donated to the bank's "chosen charity" of Action for Children, unless the customer asks for the refund.

Barclaycard and Orange did not respond to inquiries prior to deadline.