A new deal that allows users of popular Blackberry Messenger app (BBM) to subscribe for BBM Shop Content using Firstmonie has been entered into by Nigeria’s oldest commercial bank, First Bank of Nigeria, Blackberry and Mobile Media Info Tech (MMIT).
The partnering organizations said the agreement will enable social commerce in BBM.
With the development, Nigerians can now access and pay for digital content available on BBM shop using their Firstmonie mobile wallet from FirstBank. Furthermore, BBM users in Nigeria will be able to personalize and enhance their chat experiences. This includes being able to easily browse and download stickers that will bring some more fun to BBM chats. Most of the content has been localized allowing users to express themselves in local lingo. Now BBM users can say “How you dey?” and much more in a fun “Naija way” to brighten up their chat.
Head, Cards and Physical Channels for FirstBank, Mr. Chuma Ezirim, said the new service is another step towards leveraging evolving technologies to bring fast and convenient financial services closer to the unbanked and under banked Nigerians, a move that clearly aligns with the CBN Financial inclusion initiative.
“By enabling people to use their mobile phones as a tool for carrying out financial transactions and accessing digital content, FirstBank is delivering long-term benefits for both our customers and the Nigerian economy as we continue to put our customers first,” he said.
“Today, we are breaking new grounds by extending our mobile payments capabilities into BBM, which is the social network where Nigerians spend most of their time.” says Jide Akindele, Founder of MMIT.
“This is just the start. Our merchants, who are increasingly advertising on BBM to reach their customers, will also be able to leverage our collaboration with BlackBerry to convert these advertisements into e-commerce sales.”