According to one of NatWest UK's business partners, the Swindon trial revealed some early misconceptions about the customer uptake.
The consumer proposition is more complicated than we thought; first, a nationwide roll out will take closer to 10 years than 10 months. Second it is not viable to have NatWest and Midland drive it alone; it needs a payments association or more banks. Third, this is not about point of sale and big retailers, but rather purchases where you use small coins. If we are going to create an environment where this will capture consumer interest we need to do a rethink.