BMO Harris Bank Embraces Apple Pay Rivals, Including Masterpass

BMO Harris Bank is delving deeper into mobile payments with newly announced support for Android Pay, Samsung Pay, and Masterpass.

The bank is no stranger to mPayments, with the new support arriving well after it embraced Apple Pay in the spring of 2015. But in embracing all of Apple Pay’s main rivals at once, the bank is dramatically expanding its mPayment offerings.

In a statement announcing the new support, BMO Harris Bank’s Managing Director of US Retail and Small Business Payments, Patrick Strieck, explained that the bank is “constantly seeking new ways to make the customer experience more enjoyable, seamless and secure, and these new digital wallets are an example of our commitment.” The bank’s statement also explained that while Masterpass, Android Pay, and Samsung Pay all enable tap-and-pay transactions at NFC-equipped POS terminals, Samsung Pay also allows contactless payments on traditional swipe-based systems.

The bank’s grouping of Masterpass points to that platform’s growing prominence as an mPayment platform posing a direct threat to the established systems that originally pioneered the market.