Zoompass Aran Hamilton interview for insiden

Interview for insiden
Aran Hamilton - EnStream’s Vice President of Strategic Partnerships

1) What are the relationships between Zoompass, Enstream and Peoples Trust ?
Zoompass is the application which was created by EnStream LP to allow users to transfer funds using their mobile phones. Peoples Trust issues the optional Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard Card which enables customers to make no-charge retail purchases using PayPass.

2) Enstream is an "old" start-up : 2005 ? What is the story ?
EnStream LP was formed in 2005 and is a joint venture between the three largest telecommunications carriers in Canada – Bell, Rogers and TELUS. Together they had the foresight to develop a service that would work seamlessly across the carriers. Plans were developed and the application has been thoroughly tested to ensure it was ready for consumer use. All of our hard work has paid off: Zoompass is a very useful tool and has functionality that you won’t see on any other mobile money application in the world.

3) Many comments about the fees: some people find them too expensive to success ? In France a similar service is 0,5 € per transfer and the postal office is 0,52€ if you put a cheque into an envelope and send it to your beneficiary . What are the benchmarks in Canada?
Transferring money between friends and family costs less than withdrawing funds from a bank machine (an instant teller). There is no charge to make purchases with Zoompass PayPass. The fee to send money is less than the price of a domestic stamp. The evidence seems to suggest that Zoompass represents a very cost-effective way for people to transfer money and make payments—especially when you consider the fact that Zoompass is also very fast, conveniently located on the mobile phone, and very safe and secure

4) Why is it only in Canada and not in all North America (like obopay) ?
Zoompass is available to the more than 21 million cellphone subscribers who use wireless service provided by one of the three major Canadian carriers (Bell Mobility, Rogers, or TELUS, as well as Fido, PC Mobile, and Solo Mobile). Zoompass is the only mobile payment service in Canada. Obopay is not available in Canada.

5) You issue a NFC card but NO sticker NFC like First Data : what are the reasons why ?
First, it’s worth mentioning that the Zoompass Prepaid MasterCard Card is a Contactless Card, enabled with PayPass, MasterCard’s contactless feature. Zoompass was developed as the first step towards the marriage of the wallet and mobile phone. Mobile payment is in its infancy in Canada and Zoompass will revolutionize the mobile industry. As Zoompass evolves, we may certainly adopt different form factors like contactless stickers and NFC device integration.

6) Does anti-trust accept that the major wireless carrier operate together ? Is Zoompass open to others wireless carriers (MVNO)? to other industries like TV cable or transportation?
EnStream’s mission is to enable mobile commerce functionality to wireless phone subscribers for the 95% of Canadians using the Bell Mobility, Rogers, and TELUS networks including their respective brands Fido, PC Mobile, and Solo. EnStream will seek to evolve the mobile money ecosystem by working with partners to launch compelling best-of-breed solutions.

7) When are you coming in France to showcase Zoompass ? (there is a meeting this week MobilePayment09 in Paris)
Thank you for the invitation! We were at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona a few months ago and we are meeting with people from all over the world about Zoompass and partnership opportunities. We welcome all opportunities to talk about this exciting topic!

(Thank you to Dave Fleet from Thornley Fallis Communications fleet@thornleyfallis.com)