Many of Canada’s leading telecommunication providers, retailers, and banks are in full support of mobile digital wallet deployment, according to suretap, a leader in open mobile wallet technology. Many Canadian marketers are seeking a simple, yet greater customer experience.
The new suretap wallet enables smartphone owners to easily make secure mobile payments using a wide range of virtual and encrypted credit cards, gift cards, and soon debit cards, loyalty cards, digital coupons, and deals. Users can also view their transaction histories, track spending, and access a wide range of other easy and convenient features through the suretap wallet. The suretap wallet can be used anywhere contactless payments are accepted.
Some of Canada’s leading wireless carriers such as Bell, Rogers, TELUS, Koodo, and Virgin, are offering the suretap wallet across numerous Android and BlackBerry smartphones, with other device platforms expected to follow by the end of 2015. What’s more, suretap announced a new partnership with the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC), expanding the credit cards options available through the suretap wallet.
Jeppe Dorff, president of suretap, told Loyalty360 that the marketers in support of the suretap wallet appreciate the need for ubiquity in payment for Canadian consumers and a broader reach and access to more devices would ultimately create a better user experience.
“Suretap’s objective is to create an ecosystem in which all cards from all issuers, large and small, banks and non-banks, are available to consumers in Canada on-demand and with an enriched experience for the consumer,” Dorff explained. “Today, suretap enables end consumer access to 38 credit cards, from two banks and 30 gift cards from some of the most respected brands in Canada including Cineplex, indigo, Cara foods, and S.I.R. Corp. The consumers can discover and download their favorite cards, they can add their existing gift card which takes up space in the leather wallet and they can virtually “gift” a gift card across all wireless networks in Canada, right from their phone. Soon, there will be a lot more content in suretap for the consumer to engage in.”
Dorff said that when payment cards go digital, consumers can expect a brand new user experience where cards are connected and identify what consumers are trying to do and then shows them the best step forward.
“The new digital experience will also help retailers and banks co-develop and offer up digital experiences to their consumers in a mass-distributed and cost-effective way,” Dorff explained.
The suretap wallet provides a single location for customers to store credit cards and gift cards. It can be used at any retailer in Canada or around the world that accepts contactless payments. Customers can make transactions simply by holding their NFC-enabled smartphones up against payment terminals and use QR/barcodes at retailer locations to redeem their gift cards. In the future, the suretap wallet will also store other items like loyalty cards, coupons, and ID cards, as well as receive personally relevant offers and have the ability for customers search for customized deals.
According to Jupiter Research, Canada has a broad deployment of contactless payment terminals across about 75% of major retailers. Smartphone penetration in Canada is 73%, according to J.D. Power’s 2014 Canadian 2014 Canadian Wireless Total Ownership Experience Study.