Canada starts mobile payments era with CIBC, Rogers, and Tim Hortons

The first known mobile credit card transaction in Canada took place today at a Tim Hortons coffee shop in Toronto today, according to CIBC. The Canadian bank reports that Olympic Triathlete Simon Whitfield used a Rogers BlackBerry smartphone to purchase a cup of coffee using its suretap payment system. Tim Hortons is one of many retailers that have upgraded their payment terminals to accept payments from suretap, which uses NFC to wirelessly pay for transactions using a bank account linked to a secure app and a SIM card installed on smartphones. Consumers will be able to begin using suretap beginning in December, but customers can get more information here.