YNOT – Blaming “circumstances beyond [its] control” and “the current market situation,” alternative third-party biller Password By Phone has discontinued payment processing, YNOT.com learned Thursday.

Few details about the decision were available and representatives of the company were unavailable for comment, but the entire text of an email clients received Thursday morning from a no-respond email address follows:

Due to circumstances beyond our control with international phone carriers and the current market situation, we have closed our doors.

Our service is at a point where it no longer makes sense to sustain operations of the affiliate program. We thank you for the support over the years. There will be no more payments. We apologize sincerely for the lack of notice. Delivering bad news like this is never going to be a happy occasion — or an easy decision. Our recommendation is you immediately pull your links, where appropriate.

Once again, thank you for everything. We wish you all success in your future business.