Mobile Money: Much work, time, before mobile payments go mainstream in Canada

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - Mobile payments are going to be a rather tough sell in Canada, a conference in Ottawa this week heard. Not only are merchants reluctant to support and potentially pay for yet another payment channel, but technology and regulatory challenges could slow the broad adoption of mobile payments. Speaking at the 2010 Mobile Money Forum, Christie Christelis, president of Technology Strategies International, explained that one of the major barriers to mobile payment uptake is due to the various forms they can take. Will they predominantly be a mobile web application or will radio frequency identification (RFID) play a role...