New Zealand's mobile operators and banks have abandoned their mobile payment service Semble. The mobile wallet service started last year was backed by 2degrees, Spark, Vodafone, ASB and BNZ. The companies said they mutually agreed to discontinue Semble’s current mobile payment service offering and will refocus the business to develop and build new services. According to Rob Ellis, CEO of Semble, mobile payment services haven’t had the uptake and usage expected, due to reasons such as low consumer awareness and low volumes of contactless terminals, especially outside the major retail brands.
Semble will continue to operate as a business and Semble and its partners will pursue other services. As a result of the decision to discontinue mobile payment services, the 'Snapper in Semble' service will not be available to new customers, although existing customers will be able to keep using the Snapper functionality on their phones for the foreseeable future. Semble and Snapper are in discussions about offering Snapper services via Semble again in the future for new customers.
