EnStream, a joint venture of three Canadian mobile operators, is to launch a mobile payments platform that can connect with the country’s banks by the summer. Rogers, Bell Mobility and Telus are “in the final stages of talks” with the banks, according to Reuters quoting people familiar with the negotiations.

The operators would like to charge banks a fixed annual fee in return for which operators offer banks access to the SIM on a subscriber’s NFC-enabled smartphone. The bank could then transfer the subscriber’s financial details to the SIM so it could act like a virtual credit or debit card. The operators would not receive an ongoing revenue stream via a cut of any transactions made by the subscriber on their handset.

Rogers, which is the country’s leading mobile operator, plans to launch a mobile wallet of its own within six months. David Robinson, the head of emerging business with operator, claimed Canada was “more ready than probably any country in the world” for m-commerce.

Almis Ledas, EnStream’s chief operating officer, says the country has more contactless readers per capita that can interact with mobile phones than any other country in the world. Such readers are already installed in 12-15 percent of retail outlets.