Since the launch of the latest lineup of BlackBerry smartphones, there has been a fair amount of buzz regarding NFC, what it is, and what use it might be to the average user. NFC (Near Field Communication) can be leveraged for a host of possible uses, and Rogers is allegedly in talks with at least one major Canadian bank to use it to create a mobile payment system.

Imagine being able to walk into Tim Hortons, order your double-double (or triple triple in my case, I run on the sugar/caffeine hit) wave your smartphone at a pad and walk out. We can already do this with certain Visa or Mastercard cards, but which would be more convenient for you? Pulling out your wallet and using the card, or using your smartphone, which is likely already in your hand because you were sending a tweet, or checking into FourSquare?

The bank rumored to be most likely for the partnership is Toronto-Dominion, due to their high issuance rate of Visa “paywave” accounts, the service that already utilizes NFC technology. With the addition of Mastercard services through MBNA, an aquisition announced earlier this week by TD, they would have both of the major credit companies in hand to be able to offer their services to the largest possible number of subscribers.

Whichever bank Rogers does team up with, don’t get too excited yet. The service isn’t rumored to be coming to fruition until early 2012 at least, and I’m sure we’ll get more updates as things evolve between now and then. Enough time to get your hands on one of the new BlackBerry smartphones with the NFC chip built right in, if nothing else.

[via: NFCTimes]