Canadian banks issue NFC payment guidelines
15 May, 2012
category: NFC
Canada’s banking and credit union groups have come together to create a set of open guidelines for the development of mobile payments at point-of-sale in Canada.
This “Mobile Reference Model” will serve as a blueprint for how mobile payment capabilities can be offered in the Canadian market, including guidelines on how financial information is exchanged among various parties such as financial institutions, payment card companies, telecommunications companies and merchants, according to the Canadian Bankers Association (CBA).
While voluntary, the financial institutions that developed the guidelines say they are committed to these principles in the mobile market, and these guidelines are intended to create a path to help all market participants move forward in developing mobile payment solutions.
“Canadians are looking forward to being able to pay at point-of-sale with their mobile device, and today’s announcement of guidelines for mobile payments in Canada brings this closer to making it a reality,” said the CBA in a release. “By developing a set of guidelines that all participants in the payments marketplace can work within, the goal is to ensure safety, security and ease of use for merchants and consumers while allowing for innovation and competition among market participants.”
According to the CBA, the guidelines are intended to benefit the market in a number of key areas:
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Enabling Innovation: The guidelines provide a common framework for how mobile payments capabilities can work with existing payments systems such as contactless readers, which are already widely installed across Canada.
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Providing Clarity and Efficiency: A common framework allows for efficiency in the market in developing new mobile payments solutions for Canadians. The foundation provided in the guidelines will enable individual service providers to focus on adding value for consumers.
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Delivering Continued Security: The guidelines are designed to work with existing, secure contactless payment technology already in place today. This benefits merchants and consumers by building on an existing system, and leveraging the same high security standards used by today’s chip-enabled credit and debit cards.
These guidelines were developed as an outcome of the federal government’s 2011 Task Force for the Payments System Review. Participating institutions include:
Bank of Montreal (BMO)
National Bank (NB)
Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC)
Credit Union Central of Canada (Canadian Central)
Desjardins Financial Group
Royal Bank of Canada (RBC)
Bank of Nova Scotia (Scotiabank)
Toronto Dominion Bank (TD)