BlackBerry (BBRY) Goes Out of Comfort Zone in Latest Effort to Retain BBM Subs
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Live in Indonesia? Wish you could transfer money more quickly?
Maybe you should consider becoming a BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) subscriber.
According to reports out Tuesday, BlackBerry and PT Bank Permata are teaming up in a campaign which allows users to transfer money to contacts over the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service.
BlackBerry is still a leading OEM in Indonesia, a country of 249 million. The company is hoping it will be able to create a sticky feature to prevent losing customers to WhatsApp. In the process, BlackBerry will enter a business segment long dominated by Western Union (NYSE: WU) and MoneyGram Int'l (NYSE: MGI).
One rep for PT Bank sees "a few hundred thousand users" starting to use the service within the first year.
Some speculate that the move might not be the easiest for BlackBerry to pull off given compliance issues associated with money transfer as well as the presence of established names.
BlackBerry recently reported having a user base of about 79 million subs at the end of the latest quarter. More data points to about 60 million of those using BBM on a regular basis, providing a robust pool to tap into with any new service, much less a money-transfer effort.
Shares of BlackBerry are indicated for a higher open Tuesday.
Maybe you should consider becoming a BlackBerry (Nasdaq: BBRY) subscriber.
According to reports out Tuesday, BlackBerry and PT Bank Permata are teaming up in a campaign which allows users to transfer money to contacts over the BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service.
BlackBerry is still a leading OEM in Indonesia, a country of 249 million. The company is hoping it will be able to create a sticky feature to prevent losing customers to WhatsApp. In the process, BlackBerry will enter a business segment long dominated by Western Union (NYSE: WU) and MoneyGram Int'l (NYSE: MGI).
One rep for PT Bank sees "a few hundred thousand users" starting to use the service within the first year.
Some speculate that the move might not be the easiest for BlackBerry to pull off given compliance issues associated with money transfer as well as the presence of established names.
BlackBerry recently reported having a user base of about 79 million subs at the end of the latest quarter. More data points to about 60 million of those using BBM on a regular basis, providing a robust pool to tap into with any new service, much less a money-transfer effort.
Shares of BlackBerry are indicated for a higher open Tuesday.
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