About a year and a half after CIBC first announced it was launching a mobile payments app with Rogers Communications Inc., the bank is now doing the same thing for Telus Mobility customers – allowing them to tap to pay for purchases using their smartphones.
In an announcement today, CIBC and Telus said they are rolling out the app to people who hold a both CIBC credit card account and who use Telus as their mobile carrier. Using near-field communication (NFC) chips in their phones, CIBC and Telus customers will be able to pay for goods and services under $50 by waving or tapping their phones against a point-of-sales terminal.
The app is available as a free download from Google Play, and customers and merchants won’t be charged any extra fees for using it.
However, for today’s launch, only four Telus devices will be able to download and use the app – the Samsung Galaxy S4, the Samsung Galaxy S3, the Samsung Galaxy Note 2, and the HTC One.
Later this month, the app will be extended to the BlackBerry Z10, the BlackBerry Q10, and the BlackBerry Bold 9900, although Telus has confirmed it plans to make the app available for more devices in the future. (Apple Inc. hasn’t made its devices NFC-compatible, so there are no plans to allow iPhone owners won’t be able to use this specific app or download it for iOS).
CIBC’s first foray into mobile payments started when it partnered with Rogers in 2012, making them the first bank and carrier to bring a mobile payments app to Canada.
Other banks and carriers have since followed suit – last month, RBC and Bell Canada unveiled their mobile payments service for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and the Samsung Galaxy S3. However, with this latest partnership with Telus, CIBC is currently the only bank in Canada to partner with two carriers in providing mobile payments.
