Carrier-Based Mobile P2P Gets Under Way in Canada

A new service debuted on Monday in Canada for which there is no equivalent in the U.S.: a single mobile person-to-person payments offering from the nation's three major wireless telecommunications companies. The service, called Zoompass, also is linked to a prepaid MasterCard PayPass contactless card that gives it utility at the point of sale. The telecoms, BCE Inc. (better known as Bell Canada), Rogers Communications Inc., and Telus Corp., created Toronto-based EnStream LP to develop Zoompass. The three together account for about 95% of Canada's cell-phone market, which has an estimated 21 million customers, according to press reports. The fact that Canadians can now access a common P2P platform regardless of carrier distinguishes Canada from the U.S., where there are no carrier-based mobile-payment systems and PayPal Inc. is the only big P2P service in a market that also features a host of startups angling for market share. “This is the first time that a consortium of mobile operators has successfully come together creating an ecosphere that allows almost any Canadian … to transfer money P2P electronically,” payments consultant Philip Andreae tells Digital Transactions News by e-mail. Andreae is president of Philip Andreae and Associates and works in both Canada and the U.S. “The launch of Zoompass represents an important milestone in financial services that makes the mobile phone the central device consumers use to transfer money and make purchases,” EnStream president Robin Dua said in a new release. The release also says, “Canada's three largest wireless phone companies decided to collaborate and launch the Zoompass service together with the vision that a common standard and interoperability for mobile money transfers across all networks would result in unprecedented convenience for consumers.” Canadians age 18 and up can apply for a Zoompass account. The service can be accessed from the Internet, the mobile Web, or from an application downloaded directly to a mobile phone. An applicant creates an account by entering her mobile-phone number and bank-account information. Customers also can link a credit card to their Zoompass accounts. To create an account, the applicant selects a user name and mobile PIN. The Zoompass application enables the user to create a contact list from the names in her mobile device's address book. To send money to another person, the user logs in, enters her PIN, pulls up the recipient's name, and enters the amount. The application also will display a field for a short note. The sender chooses the account from which funds will be drawn, and then enters her PIN. A pop-up verifies the pending transaction and says that the sender will be charged 50 cents if sending from a Zoompass account. Hitting “OK” completes the transaction. Recipients don't pay a fee and don't need a Zoompass account, as long as they are Canadians with mobile devices from Bell, Rogers, or Telus, or those carriers' sub-brands and affiliates. Users also can transfer funds between their accounts, and request funds from other Zoompass users. The maximum daily transaction amount is $250. Sending from a credit card account costs 3.5%. Withdrawing funds from a Zoompass account to the linked bank account costs 50 cents. Zoompass assesses a $10 charge for non-sufficient funds. The prepaid MasterCard PayPass card issued by Vancouver-based Peoples Trust gives Zoompass a toehold at the point of sale and at ATMs. MasterCard hasn't revealed the number of PayPass-accepting locations by country, but a Zoompass spokesperson says the number is growing in Canada. Customers can request a card if they have $15 or more in their Zoompass accounts, but after that there are no minimums. The card has a $1.50 monthly fee, however, and a $1.50 fee for domestic ATM withdrawals. MasterCard is also working with Redwood City, Calif.-based processor Obopay Inc. to perform P2P transfers in a mobile version of its MoneySend service (Digital Transactions News, June 19, 2008). According to Bloomberg News, both Apple Inc., maker of the iPhone, and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion Ltd. will have Zoompass applications available for their respective smart phones soon.