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BlackBerry to make payments debut in IndonesiaFeb 14, 2013 (Datamonitor via COMTEX) -- BlackBerry's piloting of its new BBM Money P2P mobile payments service in Indonesia is a strategic move by the smartphone developer to tap into the growing popularity of mobile payment services ahead of its competitors. It also highlights a significant opportunity for the company to strengthen its declining market share in several countries. BlackBerry's recently announced plans to trial its new person-to-person (P2P) mobile payments service, BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Money, in Indonesia is a proactive expansionary move by the company to not only boost the competitiveness of its product portfolio, but to leverage its hugely popular BBM service for payment purposes. The BBM Money service - which was developed alongside AGIT Monitise Indonesia and local bank PermataBank - gives users access to their bank accounts via their mobile phones and allows them to conduct bank transfers, purchase mobile credit, and make payments from within BBM to others also signed up to the service. While mobile P2P payment services have been growing in popularity - particularly among international money transfer firms such as Western Union and banks such as Barclays in the UK and ANZ in Australia - BBM Money is the first high profile move by a smartphone developer to commercially pilot such a service. Not only is BlackBerry capitalizing and building upon its once unique selling point (BBM), it is strategically positioning BBM Money for success by choosing to trial the service in Indonesia - a market with relatively low credit card penetration rates and a young population, and arguably one of the few that BlackBerry still holds a controlling share in (37% according to Bloomberg Businessweek). If BlackBerry's move proves to be successful it will have significant implications for the future of mobile in payments, but it will also be instrumental in BlackBerry gaining further traction should it decide to release the service on a more global scale. It could also give the company the boost it needs to remain competitive - especially in developing economies where mobile P2P payments have historically seen considerably higher rates of adoption. For more information about this topic please contact Theresa Jameson at [email protected]. http://www.datamonitor.com Republication or redistribution, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without prior written consent. Datamonitor shall not be liable for errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon |