TORONTO, ON--(Marketwired - 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 second(i)."
"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."
About Visa
Visa Inc. (NYSE: V) is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions, and governments in more than 200 countries and territories to fast, secure and reliable electronic payments. We operate one of the world's most advanced processing networks -- VisaNet -- that is capable of handling more than 56,000 transaction messages a second, with fraud protection for consumers and assured payment for merchants. Visa is not a bank and does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa's innovations, however, enable its financial institution customers to offer consumers more choices: pay now with debit, pay ahead of time with prepaid or pay later with credit products. For more information, visit corporate.visa.com and @VisaNewsCA.
About The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation
The Princess Margaret Cancer Foundation at University Health Network is raising funds to lead the way in Personalized Cancer Medicine at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, one of the top 5 cancer research centres in the world, which includes The Campbell Family Cancer Research Institute and The Campbell Family Institute for Breast Cancer Research. www.thepmcf.ca
About Global Payments Inc.
Global Payments Inc. is a leading worldwide provider of payment technology services that delivers innovative solutions driven by customer needs globally. Our partnerships, technologies and employee expertise enable us to provide a broad range of products and services that allow our customers to accept all payment types across a variety of distribution channels in many markets around the world.
Headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia with approximately 4,500 employees worldwide, Global Payments is a Fortune 1000 Company with merchants and partners in 29 countries throughout North America, Europe, the Asia-Pacific region and Brazil. For more information about Global Payments, our Service. Driven. Commerce brand and our technologies, please visit www.globalpaymentsinc.com.
About Mobeewave
Mobeewave is the world's first and only add-on-free mobile payment acceptance solution. Our patented technology turns an NFC mobile phone into a secure, contactless payment acceptance terminal, able to securely receive payment transactions made with contactless cards and wallets (including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, HCE…). Mobeewave provides the highest level of payment security, using Point-to-Point Encryption, and is EMV- compliant. For more information, please visit www.mobeewave.com.
(i) VisaNet Visa payWave transactions - based on average monthly Visa payWave transactions on Canadian issued cards conducted at merchants located in Canada April 2015 - June 2015
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