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Rogers Wireless Partners with RBC and Visa in Mobile Commerce Pilot Project

3:44 pm on October 31, 2008 | Category: Business, Cellular, Wireless, Wireless Technology

Canada’s leading cell phone carrier, Rogers Wireless, announced yesterday that it will work together with Visa and RBC on a pilot project allowing consumers to make secure mobile purchases at the point of sale with a wave of their mobile phone.

Participants in the pilot will receive specially-equipped Motorola handsets, complete with contactless Near Field Communication chips, capable of communicating with Visa’s payWave-enabled checkout readers at select retailers in downtown Toronto. Transactions will be registered in the same way as with an RBC Visa card.

This pilot project will be the first in Canada to test secure, over-the-air mobile payment technology, according to the three companies.

“This pilot is the first step to making our customers’ mobile phones as indispensable as their wallets,” commented David Robinson of Rogers Wireless.

Rogers and its partners say the trial will allow them to gain more insight into customer behaviours and perceptions about mobile payment technology, before the service is widely offered.

“We need to ensure that we get a real gauge of the consumer experienceâ€¦and the technology to fit that paradigm,” said Visa Canada’s head of products, Mike Bradley.

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