Speaking at the Canadian Payment Association in Quebec City, Honourable Jim Prentice, P.C., Q.C., Vice Chairman of CIBC shared some remarks earlier this morning…
“Consumer issues should be paramount. And what consumers want is all of the security, safety and soundness they have come to expect, but with added speed and convenience,” said Mr. Prentice. He added that Canada has the right elements for moving ahead with innovations in mobile banking and was second only to Singapore in a recent Mobile Payments Readiness Index.
“If we are smart – if we compete at some levels, and cooperate at others, around things like standards—Canada has a real opportunity to move into a leadership position in mobile payments. And we absolutely have the capacity to be leaders,” said Mr. Prentice. “We just need the will.”
“We simply need to be bold enough to act and wise enough to partner with other like-minded leaders to make the best use of the opportunities before us to serve our customers and Canadians,” Mr. Prentice concluded.
Last month, CIBC and Rogers announced a major move forward that will allow Canadians to make secure payments via their mobile devices. A spokesperson for CIBC confirmed with Profectio that no date has been set as to when the service will be available. The service will be limited to Research In Motion’s (RIM) Blackberry devices and some Android-based smart phones, as they have built-in NFC capabilities in them. Apple has not made any official announcement as to when their iPhone or iPad devices will have NFC-capabilities.
CIBC has also taken a leadership position by helping to drive voluntary guidelines for mobile banking with the Canadian Bankers Association.
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