May I Help You Next? Rogers Looks To Become A Bank

BY: 

Dave Forde
September 7, 2011

Speaking of out of left field, did you hear that Rogers filed papers with the Ministry of Finance under Canada’s Bank act to launch Rogers Bank (Banque Rogers in French).  Rogers is an extremely competitive company, who never wants to leave a dollar on the table. Just look at Chatr which launched to go head-to-head against WIND Mobile, Public Mobile and Mobilicity.  To their credit are still very much one of the few Canadian telecos who is constantly innovating, or at least trying different things even when they are bad ideas.

Rogers already handles many wireless transactions through their billing system and mobile commerce is only going to grow as mobile adoption grows and consumers feel more secure about mobile transactions.  Rogers will not be looking to launch a full-scale bank, but they will look to leverage they customer base and investments in mobility to jump into the mobile commerce pool.

“We have no plans to become a full-service deposit-taking financial institution,” Rogers spokesperson Carly Suppa said.

“The license, if granted, would give us the flexibility to pursue a niche credit card opportunity to our customers should this make sense at a future date.”

This isn’t a new space, a number of Canadian retailers offer some type of credit card to customers, Canadian Tire, Loblaws and Sears, which each earn a healthy profit off the interest that clients pay. Rogers has an extensive portfolio of products and solutions including cable, magazines, mobile and now home monitoring.

Companies such as Payfirma and NetSecure have each launched their own mobile payment solutions, and Visa Canada also has been taking more steps into the mobile payment space.  As their wireless footprint continues to grow in Canada, the ability to offer clients credit is a natural fit.

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Dave Forde


Dave “The Connector” Forde has been involved in the marketing, public relations and technology industry across Canada for over 20 years in various sales and marketing roles, he launched The Connected One network of business sites which connects buyers to the right sellers. Profectio and PR In Canada covers news about the marketing and public relations industry each day helping professionals advance their career and businesses. He also serves as an advisor to a number of businesses across the country. Find Dave on LinkedIn and Twitter.


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