A pilot project involving RIM, BMO and MasterCard Canada could result in cellphones one day replacing credit cards.
MasterCard Canada has partnered with BlackBerry-maker Research In Motion and Bank of Montreal to try a contactless payment technology called PayPass that allows a shopper to simply tap their enabled phone against a sensor to make a purchase.
In June, Visa partnered with Royal Bank and Rogers Communications to test a mobile pay system in the Toronto area, using Visa's payWave technology. Rather than tapping a sensor, the Visa method involves waving an enabled cellphone in front of a sensor. The cellphone is enabled after an application is downloaded.
Global trend seen
MasterCard's four-month pilot project will involve 200 employees from MasterCard, RIM and BMO. Their experiences with the technology will be evaluated and refined. Other banks and phone types would be included before the new pay system is launched.There is a global trend to paying for goods and services with a mobile phone. Pilot projects are underway in numerous countries, including Australia, Turkey and the United Kingdom.
The U.K. market research firm, IMS Research, predicted in a report earlier this month that by the end of 2013, there will be 12.5 million locations accepting contactless payments around the world.
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