TORONTO – The banking industry and credit union system on Monday released a set of voluntary, secure, open guidelines for the development of mobile payments at point-of-sale in Canada that could help pave the way for partnerships between banks and big telcos.
The voluntary guidelines, available here, are technically known as the Mobile Reference Model. They will serve as a blueprint for how mobile payment capabilities can be offered in the Canadian market, including guiding principles around how information is exchanged among the various parties to a transaction, including telecommunications companies, financial institutions, payment card companies and merchants, according to the announcement by the Canadian Bankers Association.
Rogers and Bell have quietly conducted mobile payment trials using near field communication (NFC), and Rogers applied for a bank license last September, as Cartt.ca reported.
Participating financial institutions include Bank of Montreal (BMO), National Bank, Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), Credit Union Central of Canada (Canadian Central), Desjardins Financial Group, Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank) and Toronto Dominion Bank (TD).
