Until now, this service has been available only to consumers in Canada with BlackBerry devices.
Sure Tap was first launched in Canada last year, in order to allow a partnership between the CIBC bank and Rogers Communications to offer mobile payments through NFC enabled devices.
However, at that time, it was only BlackBerry using Rogers subscribers who could use the service.
This made the initial step toward mobile payments in Canada a very limited one. However, Sure Tap has now announced that it has released a new version of the app through CIBC, so that all NFC enabled Android device customers will be able to take advantage of the app, if they want to. This has most notably made the service available to the large number of Samsung Galaxy S3 users.
Now these consumers can make mobile payments at sale terminals that are contactless enabled.
This means that CIBC cardholders who have a data plan through Rogers will be able to connect their accounts to their Android smartphones so that they can make mobile payments to complete purchase transactions while in stores. There are both Visa and MasterCard branded credit cards issued by CIBC which are eligible for use in this type of transaction.
The Android version of the Sure Tap application includes the same features that were available through the version for BlackBerry users. It allows customers to tap their smartphones against the terminals in order to make mobile payments for purchases of up to $50 in retail stores both within Canada and in other countries that use these systems. The user’s credit card data is stored within the NFC SIM card in the smartphone. The companies assure customers that this keeps their data safe against unauthorized transactions.
Users of the Sure Tap app can also check their balances and track the purchases that they have made, through the use of that application. This Android mobile payments app is downloadable from Google Play. The launch of this version of the application is accompanied by a campaign to have people try it for the first time, by offering a $15 account credit to those who activate by June 30.
