BlackBerry, like others, wants its customers to have the privilege of sending payments, and thus is experimenting with support from PayPal for its messaging app BBM. The payment service from BlackBerry will be cross-platform, so Android and iOS users will also be able to use it.
A simple way to send money
BBM Money is the name of the project on which the two companies have partnered, the Canadian firm announced on Wednesday. On successful implementation of the project, users of BBM will be able to send and receive money through the app. For sending money, all a user is required to do is click on the “Pay with PayPal” icon and connect his PayPal account with BBM. The project is in beta testing and for now is available only to a few users in Canada.
“You’ll simply select the PayPal icon directly in BBM, enter in the amount of money, review the details, and hit send – that’s all it takes,” Matt Gromada, PayPal’s director of consumer product marketing, said.
For using the service within BBM, it’s not necessary to have the PayPal app installed, the company informed BlackBerry users. Just having a PayPal account will do. The Canadian firm has been experimenting with mobile payments for its messenger app since last September but was waiting until the process of implementing it is finalized.
BlackBerry rivals already have a payment app
Several hardware and software companies are introducing their own payment solutions. Apple Pay, an in-app and in-store tap-to-pay payment solution, was introduced last year. Then Google introduced similar services for which it acquired Softcard, a payments app. Samsung also launched its Samsung Pay service, which closely resembles Apple Pay. The largest social media platform, Facebook, also has introduced a similar service on its Messenger app, which allows peer-to-peer payment functionality.
For making digital payments, PayPal has been the go-to option for years. With the entry of new players, PayPal has been under pressure of finding new markets that have low saturation levels, and providing payments functionality to BlackBerry is one such market. PayPal is also venturing into back-end payment processing, for which it acquired two firms: Paydiant and Braintree. Such moves will help it to not only expand its business, but also increase its competitiveness in the market against newer rivals.
