TD Bank has announced it is Canada’s first financial institution to adopt Visa’s tokenization technology for mobile payments, launching within the TD app for Android. Tokenization creates a secure and unique one-time code when paying at retailers, instead of revealing your credit card details.
Rizwan Khalfan, Chief Digital Officer, TD, said in a press release “We continually look for opportunities to elevate the digital experience for our customers,” adding “The adoption of Visa’s tokenization solution allows us to deliver a faster, simpler, and more accessible mobile payments experience, backed by a secure technology developed by a global leader in payments.”
Derek Colfer, Head of Technology and Digital Innovation, Visa Canada, said “We congratulate TD on this significant milestone,” while the “Visa Token Service provides a secure environment for mobile commerce, allowing consumers to shop seamlessly and with confidence using their devices.”
Tokenization means an NFC SIM card is not required to make a mobile payment, as seen in TD Bank’s existing complex mobile payment solution, which is tied to carriers such as Rogers, TELUS and Bell, and specific smartphone models.
TD says to use this mobile payment method within their Android app, a personal credit card and a smartphone running Android Kit Kat (4.4) or higher is required. An Android widget is also available for quick access to the mobile payments feature of the app.
The move could signal Apple Pay support is on the horizon, as tokenization is the cornerstone of the latter’s mobile wallet. MasterCard’s 2016 roadmap reportedly leaked last week, which noted Canadian Apple Pay support was coming. Just over a week ago, Interac announced the launch of their token service for mobile payments, supported by Canada’s credit unions.
TD Canada Trust currently offers customers the choice of 17 various credit cards, with 16 of them being Visa and one MasterCard option.
If there’s a Canadian bank set to support Apple Pay, TD Bank is an obvious choice, as the latter already supports the mobile wallet in the U.S., plus the company’s website last fall prematurely leaked support for the service. CIBC’s Apple Pay terms of service have also appeared for some iPhone users, a sign they may also support the mobile wallet soon.
Apple Pay launched in Canada back in November for American Express-issued cardholders, and is so much fun to use in stores.
Update: When we reached out to TD Bank for comment on when iOS customers would get access to tokenization, a spokesperson would only say “The Visa tokenization service capability is connected to our mobile payments feature, which is only available on the TD app for Android.”
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Classic. They offer ApplePay, but not before they have their own alternative in place.
Gotta give people options, right? This brings Android folks on board too, before the inevitable happens with Apple Pay
I read it more negatively. I.e. “this is our solution for mobile payments. If you want to pay with a mobile phone, buy an android and use our own solution”
Well android already have android pay so its easy to implement it on both android and apple pay
Yes. But Canadian Banks don’t want to pay Apple to much money. Canadian banks are greedy. Billions of profit and they can’t give us Apple Pay.
Hopefully they set this up for their MasterCard option as well. Costco doesn’t accept VISA, but it seems like TD’s MasterCard is their red-headed step child, so to speak 😉
I tweeted TD on this. They replied, then immediately deleted the tweet…
What did TD tweet and remove?
I stupidly did not really read it before I tapped the notification, but it was something about adding the card to the app… TD had already deleted the tweet by the time I had tapped the notification.
This is my response via private message
there is no further update on Apple Pay at this time. We can say that TD is always looking ?to expand on and improve it’s mobile offerings. Upon learning of any updates or news perta?ining to this, we’ll be sure to share. Thx
Oh? Did you specifically ask about Apple Pay, or about MasterCard and they gave you this answer?
I simply asked when TD will support Apple Pay.
E-mail notification?
I turned them off.
?Pay>Anything requiring an app
i would say that TD is against Apple because they only support is Android.
Not very good business practice.