Target Media, a Dutch mobile phone and PSP (payment service provider) business, will close its bank payment business, citing excessive regulation and bookkeeping as reasons for closing stores.
The company has been involved in the mobile business since 2000 and started the PSP business in 2010, but will discontinue bank payment services and end its PSP business on April 28 of this year.
“It's better to quit while you're making money than to quit when you start bleeding,” Target Media CEO Paul Van Rooy said.
There will be no employment impact as a result of this move, and Target Media will continue to operate its mobile business. In a message to customers, TargetMedia said:
“After careful consideration, we have concluded that while new laws and regulations will limit the future of smaller payment service providers, large companies can make significant investments in a healthy future.
“TargetMedia is one of the oldest existing PSPs and is in the top 5-10 in terms of size, but we don't think it has a realistic opportunity and want to be a top 5 player. I have no aspirations.”
According to Crunchbase, TargetMedia has a staff of 11 to 50 people and processed more than 250 million payment transactions in one year, according to its website.
Van Rooij said PSPs are subject to “increasingly new bookkeeping rules and regulations.”
he added:
“We're more interested in doing business and building things that give us more energy.
“If we want to survive in the PSP world long term, we need to become a bigger European player.
“We simply came to the conclusion that we wanted to make a different choice, that it was better to quit while we were still making money than to quit when we started bleeding. Nothing more, nothing less.”
In a message to customers, TargetMedia provided links to other PSPs that “may be a good choice for you.”
These include Dutch payments company Mollie and Greek payments startup Viva Wallet.
