Canadian communications giant looks to cards

Rogers Communications Inc., a Canadian cable television, Internet, and phone services provider, filed a request with the Canadian government for a bank license to enable the company to issue credit cards and financial products. This report came shortly after the Canadian Federal Government issued a discussion paper titled The Way We Pay. This look into the Canadian payments system criticizes the country's payment industry for being slow to adopt mobile payments and too concentrated in its ownership.

According to published reports, approximately a dozen requests for Canadian bank licenses are pending. Rogers has more than 9 million wireless subscribers. A bank license would allow Rogers to issue credit cards to its mobile phone subscriber base and could quickly move Rogers into a leadership role in the yet to emerge Canadian mobile payments market. More than $40-trillion in transactions is processed annually in Canada.

The Way We Pay noted, "The Canadian payments system has proven resistant to change. As a result, Canada is falling behind, especially in mobile payments and electronic invoicing and payments (straight through processing)."

The paper offers an outline of legislation, governance, infrastructure and oversight needed to increase the safety and security of the payments industry while opening up the market to innovation and new players and technology.

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