Canada, London on the brink of mobile contactless payment roll out
31 October, 2010
category: NFC
Canada and London are less than two years away from commercial deployments of NFC mobile payment technology, according to BBC News.
Experts predict Canada is set for a mobile payments ‘revolution’ in late 2011, with the successful conclusion of pilots by both MasterCard and Visa in addition to Sage Payment Solutions and ROAM Data’s recently announced partnership to bring mobile commerce to small and midsized businesses in Canada, says thestar.com.
For London, SIM-based mobile payment from Telefonica is expected to be a major part of the 2012 Olympic Games. According to Telefonica, the introduction of NFC payment at the Olympics will push the technology into the greater London area.
Additionally, UK mobile operators like O2, a subsidiary of Telefonica, have been a major driving force in furthering the cause of contactless mobile payment, says BBC News.
In both areas, experts claim consumer demand for the technology is high, but widespread implementation of contactless terminals will be necessary on the part of retailers before a mainstream mobile payment deployment is possible.