BlackBerry has announced it has partnered with PayPal for a mobile payments trial that will allow BlackBerry users in Canada to send and receive money through the BlackBerry’s messaging service, BBM. To utilize the mobile payment function, individuals must connect their PayPal account with the BBM service but once completed, individuals can easily send money to friends and family within a chat by hitting a PayPal icon and entering the amount.
Commenting on the service, Matt Gromada, director, consumer product marketing, PayPal said,
“Whether you’re paying a roommate back for rent or splitting dinner with friends, buying a group gift or sending your kid some spending money, sending money with PayPal through BBM is easy because it’s where your conversation is already happening. People don’t have to leave BBM to send a photo or file. So, why should they have to with money? – Pay and get paid in the moment, right in your BBM conversations, using your mobile device.”
With Apple, Samsung and Google further ahead with their respective mobile payment services, the move by BlackBerry is clearly an attempt to play catch up but there is little evidence the move will save the struggling company with mobile payments in Canada struggling to gain traction and market share for BlackBerry on the decline in most countries around the world.
Overview by Tristan Hugo-Webb, Associate Director, Global Payments Advisory Service at Mercator Advisory Group
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