Canadian mobile operator Rogers is to launch an NFC-based mobile payments service on 16 November in partnership with local bank CIBC.

The launch, which has been mooted for some time, will enable the operator’s subscribers to make payments at thousands of point-of-sale terminals throughout Canada enabled with MasterCard’s Paypass or Visa’s Paywave technology, although the service will initially only work with two NFC-based BlackBerry handsets which will restrict its take-up among users.

Rogers says the service, which is called Suretap, will be made available to other BlackBerrys as well as NFC-based Android and Windows Phone 8 handsets early in 2013. It did not specify how many additional models it will add next year.

The service is currently only available for subscribers with the BlackBerry Bold 9900 and the BlackBerry Curve 9360, both older models. Subscribers who want the Suretap service have to order an NFC-based SIM from Rogers at a cost of C$13 (US$13).

There is a limit of C$50 on the size of payments that subscribers can make in shops using their NFC-based handsets.

Canada has a relatively high penetration of contactless technology in retail outlets which has led some observers to tip it as a potentially significant market for NFC-based services. A poll conducted by CIBC itself found that 47 percent of Canadians with smartphones would consider using them for mobile payments. However more than half (57 percent) said they would need inducements to make the switch to mobile payments.