Canada’s fifth largest credit card issuer, Desjardins Group, plans to launch NFC mobile payments in 2014, and has become the first issuer to sign up with mobile operator joint venture EnStream in hopes of reaching subscribers from multiple telcos in the country.
EnStream, a company formed by Canada’s three largest mobile operators, Rogers Wireless, Bell Mobility and Telus Mobility, has long since given up plans for rolling out its own payments service. Instead, it has become an aggregator of access to mobile operator NFC SIM cards in Canada–reselling space on SIMs for all major and some regional mobile carriers. Together, EnStream claims to reach 95% of the Canadian subscriber market.
It remains to be seen how well EnStream’s SIM aggregation model catches on. EnStream does not offer its own wallet app or a mobile-commerce platform, like its large counterpart to the South, Isis. It believes this could help attract issuers that want to promote their own brands.
But challenges lie ahead, including the fate of troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry, which is providing the secure element management and SP-TSM services on an outsourced based to EnStream. In addition, EnStream member telcos are free to pursue their own bilateral deals with banks.
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Graphics: EnStream Fact box
Sources quoted in this article:
Patrice Dagenais, VP, payment solutions and business partnerships, Desjardins
Almis Ledas, COO, EnStream
Pawel Chrobok, business development dir., EnStream
Among Companies mentioned in this article:
EnStream
Desjardins Group
Rogers Communications
Bell Canada
Telus Corp.
BlackBerry
Royal Bank of Canada
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce
Isis
Gisecke & Devrient
Weve
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