UK-based mobile payments service Droplet has been closed down, five years after it launched, due to failing to reach the scale to make Droplet viable as a profit-making business.

That quote is taken from a statement posted on the companys website on Friday 15 July, which said that Droplet “will now be seeking a buyer for the technology, support materials and know-how we’ve built” after closing its doors the same day.

The app partnered with a hundreds of merchants, according to its statement – a list mainly consisting of independents but also small pubs like Adnams and Westons.

“Droplet is taking the friction out so hopefully people will need their card less,” CTO Will Grant told Mobile Marketing in an interview back in 2013. “We’re really good for smaller retailers because there will be no monthly charge for a card reader but we’re also looking at bigger retailers too.”

The app closed off payments entirely at midnight on Friday, and started the process of refunding remaining balances to users, on both the customer and merchant sides of the equation.

Don’t forget to enter the Effective Mobile Marketing Awards. The Early Bird deadline for submissions is 22 July. More details here.