Rogers Wireless is rumored to be getting ready to launch its own NFC mobile wallet with Toronto-Dominion Bank Group and Visa
Canada’s largest mobile network operator Rogers Wireless is reputed to be readying a new NFC mobile walletservice of its own. The MNO is said to be working with TD bank and Visa,although it is not completely clear whether the wireless carrier intends to act as its own TSM (Trusted Service Manager). What differentiates Rogers Wireless NFC mobile wallet from other telco’s efforts to move in an dominate NFC payments is that the Canadian mobile network operator appears to have no intention of working with its competitors to lock down the market so that competitors are pushed out. Rogers Wireless already owns 36% of Canadian mobile subscribers which works out to be around 9.1 million, and intends to leverage that strong position to deploy a full scale mobile payments service in the first quarter of 2012.
Rogers Wireless NFC mobile wallet partners
As we have discussed many times here at NFC Rumors the NFC payments ecosystem is complex and involves mobile network operators like Rogers Wireless,credit and debit card issuers,banks,merchants and trusted service managers to all work together to make a system work. No mobile network operator or third party company can go it alone in launching an NFC mobile wallet. NFC Times has reported that it has received information that suggests that TD bank and Visa are teaming with Rogers Wireless in this NFC mobile wallet collaboration. TD Bank is not new to contactless and has already issued 3.6 million contactless Visa payWave cards out of its 4 million accounts. TD also announced this week it is purchasing the MBNA Canada credit card business from Bank of America,which would add nearly 2 million MasterCard-branded cards to its portfolio. Canada has already seen a lot of contactless activity from both Visa and Mastercard and TD appears to be in a great position to support Rogers Wireless with its NFC mobile wallet. We reported just a few months ago about McDonald’s Canadaupgrading all of its POS terminals to be able to accept MasterCard NFC and contactless payments which indicates that the merchants are already heading in the right direction to accept NFC payments from NFC mobile wallets.
The technology that is expected to act as the secure element for Rogers Wireless is likely to be a SWP (single-wire protocol) NFC SIM card which would be issued by wireless to activate its NFC mobile wallet. This would seem to suggest that Rogers Wireless intends to act as its own TSM (trusted service manager) and control the apps and data that is housed on the SIM card. We have to admit here at NFC Rumors we prefer the embedded secure element that comes already built inside a phone. It allows users to transfer to different carriers with ease and has tamper proof capabilities that we just feel more secure with. However at the same point we acknowledge that if Rogers Wireless does indeed launch its NFC mobile wallet it will have done it in a fashion where the company competes fairly with competitors which allows consumers choice. Well choice outside of those Canadian three year contracts that is.
This is great news for Canadians because with this new project will come the commitment to bring NFC phones to the carrier and gives a sound way for an NFC mobile wallet to be launched in Canada. Now all we need to see is what Bell and Telus intend to do to keep up with Rogers Wireless NFC mobile wallet.