Indonesian financial institution PT Bank Permata (PermataBank), BlackBerry and mobile money company Monitise announced the commercial pilot launch of BBM Money. With BBM Money, customers have the ability to create and access a mobile money account from their BlackBerry smartphone and make payments to their BBM contacts who are also signed up to the service. They can also buy mobile airtime credit and transfer money to bank accounts.
Developed by PT AGIT Monitise Indonesia (AGIT Monitise Indonesia), the joint venture between Monitise Asia Pacific and Astra Graphia Information Technology (AGIT), part of Astra International Group, and issued and managed by PermataBank, BBM Money is making its commercial pilot debut in Indonesia, where customers may load cash into it from an Indonesian bank account. PermataBank will issue BBM Money mobile money accounts and process financial transactions. The service is protected by bank-grade security measures including a passcode, encryption, monitoring, and limits as required by PermataBank under Bank Indonesia regulations.
Through a simple registration process within the application, BBM customers can create a BBM Money account with PermataBank and then start loading cash into the account through any of the 70,000 ATMs in Indonesia. After visiting a designated location to perform a one-time identity check, customers can then make payments to their BBM contacts and transfer money to other bank accounts using the app. Customers can also pay for mobile airtime or prepaid SIM cards for their family and friends. Another feature is that customers who actively conduct business through BBM can make payments immediately and securely.
