Monitise through its joint venture company AGIT Monitise Indonesia announces it has attracted 60,000 registered users of BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) Money in the first three months. BBM Money is an integrated micropayment solution through BlackBerry Messenger, a collaboration with BlackBerry and Permata Bank. It is targeted to reach 200,000 registered users by the end of the year.
BBM Money was launched in February to overcome mobile payment opportunity among BlackBerry users. With this product, BBM users is enabled to make real-time payments to their BBM contacts who are also signed up to the service. Also, BBM Money can be utilized to buy mobile airtime credit and transfer money to bank accounts. PermataBank is among top 10 bank in Indonesia based on assets.
PermataBank Retail Banking Director Lauren Sulistiawati commented: “We are delighted with the level of customer adoption that we have experienced so far. The popularity of the service is another indication that mobile plays a key role in the future of the banking and payments industry across Indonesia. We have also been particularly excited by the way in which BBM Money has quickly opened up a new, direct route to new-to-bank customers. The ability to engage with new customers and significantly lower the cost of customer acquisition is a real advantage for any financial institution.”
Calvin Lim, Director of AGIT Monitise, commented: “We are encouraged by the adoption trend and customer usage to date. The service can only become more popular as more functionalities are added in the near future.”
Darren Sugden, CEO of Monitise Asia Pacific, said, “It is great to see such a positive early response to BBM Money. As the first comprehensive Mobile Money service in the world to be integrated with any messaging platform, pioneering the approach of turning a social network into a payments network, BBM Money brings second-to-none convenience to Indonesian consumers and businesses. The success of the service in a major world economy which is ideally suited to this type of innovation is a great example of how the financial industry can capitalise on the fast-growing mobile, payments and banking space to meet the day-to-day needs of the consumer.”
With majority of smartphone users in Indonesia are still using older version of BlackBerry, it currently hasn’t supported the latest BlackBerry 10 platform. Previously I was writing about BBM Money in an article that it has opportunity to grow bigger as the ultimate micropayment solution if it extends its service to many aspects in community’s social life. While PermataBank may not be the top three banks in Indonesia, this solution may help attract savvy BlackBerry users who needs simple solution for micropayment among peers.