Canadian operator Rogers files to become a bank

This is one of the highest profile examples of an operator filing to become a bank. Most of the time when I speak to senior executives about their plans in this area, they reply that, ‘all that filing-to-be-a-bank stuff is complicated’, and the conversation ends.

It’s nice to see an operator doing something a little bit outside the standard comfort zone of messing around with text bundles and trying to figure out how to boost revenue on out of bundle minutes.

Here’s the first para from the GigaOm post:

Canadian mobile carrier Rogers has filed to become a bank under Canada’s federal Bank Act, which will allow it to pursue more mobile payment services and a “niche credit card opportunity” for consumers, a Rogers spokesman told CBC. While it may look odd at first, perhaps banking could be the next stop for carriers. They already handle a lot of payments from consumers and have long-term billing relationships with users.

via Dreams of mobile payments lead telco to try banking — Tech News and Analysis.