RBC's Mobile Phone Payment Service lets Canadians send and
receive money right from their cell phones
To view B-Roll about Mobex, click here
TORONTO, September 25, 2008 — In this age of
fast-emerging payment technologies, RBC Royal Bank is testing
a new service, RBC Mobex Mobile Payment Service, which allows
users to easily and securely send and receive money instantly
using a text message on their mobile phone.
The service is designed for person-to-person payments in
situations where individuals may not have the cash on hand,
such as reimbursing a friend for lunch, collecting for the
office coffee run, paying the babysitter, or buying a garage
sale item.
"Increasingly, consumers are using their mobile phones
to help simplify their day-to-day lives, including banking
and payment transactions," said Anne Koski, head, RBC
Payments Innovation. "We're testing this mobile phone
service to find out if consumers are eager to instantly send
and get cash when it's needed most, in an easy but secure
manner."
Participants in the trial are able to use the RBC Mobex payment
service on their existing mobile phone, providing it has SMS
- text messaging capability. Users simply send a text message
to RBC Mobex with the dollar amount and the recipient's cell
phone number. Funds are then taken from the sender's Mobex
account and moved to the recipient's Mobex account. The recipient
also receives an instant text message on their cell phone
to let them know when the money has been sent to them.
Amounts of up to $100 per day can be sent to anyone with
a mobile phone serviced by any Canadian wireless carrier,
even if they do not have an RBC Mobex account. Recipients
just need to register for the payment service to access their
funds. The RBC Mobex account is a stored value account and
enrollment is through the RBC Mobex web-site, where money
can be loaded from any bank account with any financial institution
in Canada, or by using a credit card.
For added security, senders receive a call on their mobile
phone to verify the transaction with a PIN for amounts over
$25. Participants will be able to remotely track and manage
their RBC Mobex account directly from their mobile phone or
through the RBC Mobex web site to check balances, view payment
history, and add funds. There are no additional fees to use
the service, however users are subject to any regular bank
or wireless carrier charges and fees they might have in place.
"Although our new payment service is used on a cell
phone, it utilizes the same highly secure payment systems
that Canadians have come to trust from their banks",
added Koski. "With more consumers clamoring for services
that fit their fast paced lifestyles, RBC continues to create
secure solutions that meet our clients 'anywhere, anytime'
financial needs."
Starting with RBC employees, their family and their friends
in Canada, the trial will run until January 2009. Further
details about a wide scale consumer pilot are to be confirmed
and announced at a later time.
Driving Innovative Mobile Solutions in Canada
The mobile phone payment trial represents one more addition
to RBC's mobile solutions suite which already includes a web
and mobile banking service designed specifically for mobile
devices. Through www.rbc.mobi,
online banking users not only have convenient and secure access
to their RBC accounts, the navigation has been streamlined
to make it easy to pay bills, check balances and transfer
funds from just about anywhere over Internet-enabled mobile
phones or PDAs.
RBC is also lab testing the use of cell phones rather than
traditional credit cards for making Visa card purchases at
merchant locations. Mobile phone devices are embedded with
Near Field Communication (NFC) contactless chips that ensure
users a fast and convenient way to pay for small purchases
by simply waving their mobile phone at Visa payWave
checkout readers.
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For further information, please contact:
Jackie Braden, RBC, Media Relations, (416) 974-2124
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