BlackBerry BBM is now integrated with Quickteller services from African digital payments and e-commerce provider Interswitch. A new app called Quickteller has been launched for Android, BlackBerry and iOS to facilitate money transfers and airtime recharging on BBM.
BlackBerry turning BBM into social e-commerce platform
With this partnership, BBM users with an account with the Nigerian bank will be able to make a request for money, airtime and payment for services from their BBM contacts. Of late, BlackBerry has been working to push e-commerce in BBM. The Canadian firm recently integrated PayPal into its platform.
BBM is one of the most popular messaging applications in Nigeria, said Matthew Talbot, SVP Emerging Solutions at BlackBerry. Talbot added that the Canadian firm has evolved BBM from being just a chat platform to more of a social and e-commerce platform, and the new mobile payment service proves this.
A quick and easy way for users
Interswitch started operations in 2002 and is among the fastest growing tech firms in Africa. The firm has been working to enhance the customer experience and push e-commerce in Nigeria. The service has been developed by combining the strengths of BlackBerry and Interswitch, and it puts Nigeria at the forefront of mobile payments and commerce innovations.
“Person-to-Person transfers and electronic airtime recharge present a growing market opportunity in Nigeria. We are delighted to bring our secure payment services to BBM users in Nigeria,” Interswitch CEO Mitchell Elegbe said. Interswitch’s alliance with BlackBerry demonstrates the African firm’s ability to constantly innovate and push boundaries in the payments industry and enhance users experience, Elegbe said.
The Quickteller mini app supports all these capabilities in a user-friendly and easy way, and it works in a similar way as a user shares a photo or file while chatting with a contact on BBM. All a BBM user is required to do to receive money is choose the attachment option, select Quickteller, enter the amount, and make a request. The recipient of the message will then have to simply tap and enter their account details. This way the amount gets transferred instantly to the recipient’s bank account.
On Monday, BlackBerry shares closed up 0.98% at $7.18. Year to date, the stock is down by almost 35% while in the last year, shares are down by over 24%.
