Tucked away in a press release yesterday was news of Rogers selecting Amsterdam-based Gemalto for their mobile contactless (NFC) payment systems.
If you’ve been watching the news, no doubt the trickle of mobile payment details has been percolating in your mind. NFC (Near Field Communications) is NOT in the iPhone 5 and Starbucks appears to be doing just fine without it. The idea of paying for stuff with your phone is not a new concept, but the race to marry a technology with controlling interest in a lucrative payment system appears at it’s height.
In a recent event, Rogers and CIBC have jointly announced (read the release here) a mobile payment solution based on NFC (Near Field Communications). This announcement is apparently a first in Canada (contact-less payments are already possible by way of other solutions – but generally not with smartphones).