Rogers Forges Strategic Partnership with MasterCard, Prepares to Launch ‘Suretap Wallet’

Rogers and CIBC last year launched Suretap, a mobile payments solution for Canadians that utilized smartphone’s NFC technology.

Today Rogers forged a strategic partnership with MasterCard to support a prepaid credit card available inside a “Suretap wallet,” which digitally stores payment information.

“MasterCard has laid the groundwork for mobile payments in Canada thanks to our market-leading contactless payment footprint. This is another step forward in driving mobile payment adoption,” says Betty DeVita, president of MasterCard Canada.

“Enabling mobile payments is a priority as we know consumers are using their smartphones as commerce devices,” she added. “Paying securely from a smartphone puts time back in the hands of consumers, and adds value to a seamless checkout experience for both shoppers and retailers.”

Since it was introduced in 2006, MasterCard has enabled Canadians to tap their cards more than 330 million times to pay securely. Contactless cards and mobile payments use Near Field Communication. A chip embedded inside a card or smartphone wirelessly transmits a signal to the payment kiosk at checkout. When tapped, the transaction is processed.

“We are thrilled to work with MasterCard to bring the contactless payment experience Canadians know today to their smartphone,” said David Robinson, Vice-President of Emerging Business, Rogers. “Canadians are looking for a simple and secure way to pay, and together with MasterCard we will deliver innovative solutions that give our customers this option on a mobile device.”

Canada was ranked second on MasterCard’s Mobile Payment Readiness Index, a data-driven quantitative survey of the global mobile payments landscape. The survey, completed in 2012, gauged the readiness for mobile payments of 34 global markets, representing approximately 85 percent of the world’s household consumption expenditure. Canada demonstrates high consumer readiness and confidence in mobile payments, an advanced POS infrastructure and a proactive government.

The initiative is slated to launch in a couple of weeks.