Toronto, ON, September 26, 2015 – Today, Visa Canada and The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation teamed up for a pilot project that enables the first contactless donations in Canadian fundraising history using a standalone smartphone. Armed with Mobeewave technology-enabled phones backed by Global Payments, Foundation staff is collecting donations from players re-registering for next year’s tournament at the annual Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer tournament at Toronto’s Woodbine Race Track.
Unlike other mobile point of sale solutions that require add-on equipment (i.e. a reader or dongle), Mobeewave’s technology fully and securely converts a standalone, commercially-available NFC (near field communication) smartphone into a mobile payment acceptance terminal using only software. Supported by Global Payments, the pilot project accepts and securely processes payments from Visa payWave contactless cards and wallets.
The pilot project is taking place at the Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer event, which runs from dawn to dusk at Woodbine Racetrack in Toronto. The event features more than one hundred teams and thousands of participants playing five games of road hockey each with family and fans cheering on the sidelines. Through the previous four years in which the event has taken place, more than $9 million has been raised for cancer research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the top five cancer research centres in the world.
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“More than ever, our donors are looking for easy, convenient and secure ways to donate. And as a social enterprise focused on conquering cancer in our lifetime, we are looking for every opportunity to increase our fundraising capacity while ensuring a donor experience that is second to none,” explained Paul Alofs, President and CEO, The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation. “With this project, Visa is making it possible for us to accept payments in a way that suits people’s preferences and provides peace of mind. It’s exciting to consider how this technology could transform an everyday device into an effective fundraising tool just as our clinicians and researchers are using the latest treatments and procedures to improve patient outcomes.
”“We are thrilled to partner with a world class organization like The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation on a project that has the potential to transform charitable giving in the near future,” said Derek Colfer, Head of Technology & Digital Innovation, Visa Canada. “Our research tells us that more than ever, Canadians are moving towards contactless payment for a variety of purchasing decisions. For example, the number of Visa payWave transactions in Canada doubled in the past year and today, there are 13 Visa payWave transactions every second1.”
“We are proud to be working alongside Visa to enable this pilot project and share the vision of the future of fundraising,” said René Bélanger, President, Global Payments Canada. “As leaders in Canadian payment technology services, we are focused on innovating contactless solutions that drive convenience and security as payment technologies evolve.”
“At Mobeewave, we are delighted to put our patented mobile contactless acceptance technology to work for a good cause,” said Benjamin du Haÿs, CEO and co-founder. “Working with Visa, the Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation and Global Payments is a fantastic opportunity to make our shared vision of the evolution of payments driven by customer experience a reality. We hope to inspire others in the charitable space to follow suit and adopt new technologies to positively impact their fundraising levels.”