EnStream, a joint venture company set up by Canadian wireless operators, has outlined plans to pilot contactless payment stickers that attach to mobile phones.
Last year the firm - formed by Bell Mobility, Rogers and Telus - launched Zoompass, a mobile money transfer and payment service, enabling Canadians to send cash to friends and family.
It is now broadening the service with a three month trial of the 43mm x 33mm Giesecke & Devrient-made ZoomPass Tag, which can be attached to a handset.
Users tap their phone against contactless payments readers at the point of sale at participating retailers such as Tim Hortons, McDonalds and Petro Canada, to make low value purchases, with the funds automatically drawn from the user's Zoompass stored value account.
The Zoompass Tag and application let users monitor transactions on their phone in real time. Financial information is stored on secure servers, not on the handset, securing the ZoomPass account if the phone is lost or stolen.
Robin Dua, president, EnStream, says: "All Zoompass users will soon be able to pay for their morning coffee, gas at the pump, and lunch at a fast-food restaurant with a quick tap of their mobile phone."
Last year Bank of Montreal, MasterCard and Research in Motion (RIM) teamed on their own sticker-based contactless payments trial. The four month pilot sees participants use PayPass Mobile Tag-equipped BlackBerrys to make purchases at any of the 8500 merchant locations in Canada that accept MasterCard's contactless technology.