Rogers Communications, the largest mobile operator in Canada, has applied for a licence to offer banking services, according to a filing it has made with the country’s government. If successful, the operator would be “primarily focused on credit, payment and charge card services”, according to its application. It would call itself Rogers Bank, it said.  A Rogers spokeswoman said the application was the means to pursue “niche credit card opportunities” and the operator had no plans to become a fullblown deposit-taking financial institution. The process could take more than one year for a licence to be awarded, she said. A number of other non-bank consumer retail giants such as Wal-Mart have already launched their own credit cards in Canada.

Separately, it was recently reportedly that Rogers hopes to launch an NFC-based payments service in Canada prior to end Q1 2012. Possible banking partners include the Toronto-Dominion Bank.

Outside of Canada, Rogers is not the first mobile operator to apply for a banking licence. In fact, others have gone further to get involved in the banking sector. Three years ago Norway’s Telenor bought a 51 percent stake in Tameer Microfinance Bank in Pakistan. And China Mobile has taken a 20 percent stake in SPD Bank to strengthen its foothold in China's nascent mobile e-commerce sector, a deal worth around US$6 billion.