Tag: rogers communications

CIBC has announced its expansion of the smartphone transactions for credit card holders.

Major Canadian bank, CIBC, has now partnered with a second large wireless carrier in the country in order to be able to broaden the availability of its mobile payments services to its customers who have NFC technology enabled smartphones.

CIBC and Telus have now announced a new partnership and mobile payments app.

This partnership has brought about a new app that will allow certain models of smartphones with NFC technology that run on the Telus network to be able to be used for making credit card purchases for items costing up to $50. These small purchase include anything from groceries to gas.

CIBC already has an established partnership with Rogers for NFC technology based smartphone payments.

Rogers is one of the largest wireless providers in Canada. That company started its mobile payments partnership in 2012. Customers of both of those companies can use their mobile devices at Canadian “tap and pay” terminals. According to the CIBC senior vice president of payments strategy and innovation, Todd Roberts, “In the next two years, by and large, you will have every bank and every major telco providing the service to clients.”

Roberts explained that he feels that this technology will become just as common as telephone banking and ATMs. He said that when this happens, “we will treat this as an everyday part of our lives.”

In order to encourage mobile payments to spread more broadly, smartphones would have to be enabled with near field communication tech. This makes it possible for the terminals to read the necessary verification data from the mobile devices so that small credit card purchases can be made. At the moment, to use this service, the credit card must have been issued by CIBC and they must have their wireless service through Rogers or Telus. In the future, the bank expects that a partnership may also be possible with Bell, one of the largest wireless providers in the country.

The more wireless carriers there are in partnership with CIBC for NFC technology based mobile payments, the better the chances that a credit card customer will be able to actually use these services.

The service will be offered by Sprint as well as Rogers Communications in Canada

Rogers Communications and American wireless carrier, Sprint, have announced in their latest technology news that they will be bringing high speed internet access to vehicles very soon, as they see a tremendous opportunity for growth within that market.

According to the carriers, the service will become available quite soon within new vehicles.

That said, the companies didn’t include pricing in their technology news announcement, nor did they share the cost of the project or the dates on which they expect to launch. The statement was issued jointly by these two companies, which are among the largest telecommunications networks in North America.

One spokesperson from Rogers has confirmed that the technology news of the launch will be within a year from now.

The technology news release explained that the service would become available from auto manufacturers that use the Velocity system from Sprint in Canada, and will leverage the wireless networks from Rogers in order to make sure that vehicles remain connected while they’re on the road.

These new vehicles will be manufactured using a SIM card design that is machine-to-machine (M2M) for wireless connectivity that is built right in. According to the vice president of Rogers, Mansell Nelson, “I think people are trying to figure out from an automotive context, or an in-car context, how you make these things relevant to what the person is doing in the car at that time.”

The vehicles manufactured with Sprint Velocity – which is already being deployed in American vehicles but that is now coming to Canada as well – will provide passengers with access to driving directions, vehicle diagnostics, weather alerts, sports scores, and news through the use of a touchscreen built into the dash.

The service also provides in-car internet connectivity for smartphones, tablets, and other mobile devices. Rogers explained that it is providing this service in response to the desire of Canadians to “be connected from anywhere, at any time.”

Critics of this technology news have drawn attention to the fact that this could increase driver distractibility. That issue is certain to appear more than once, particularly in areas such as the province of Ontario, where it is illegal to drive with a mobile device in your hand, even if it is turned off.