By Yakubu LAAH InvestAdvocate
Lagos (INVESTADVOCATE)-Tier one lender, First Bank of Nigeria Limited and Mobile Media Info Tech (MMIT) partners BlackBerry in Nigeria to enable BBM subscribers shop content with Firstmonie.
“This collaboration will enable Nigerians access and pay for digital content available on BBM shop using their Firstmonie mobile wallet, from FirstBank. BBM users in Nigeria will be able to personalise and enhance their chat experiences,” the lender said in an e-mailed statement made available to InvestAdvocate.
According to FirstBank this initiative will include subscribers being able to easily browse and download stickers that will bring some more fun to BBM chats. “Most of the content has been localised 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,” the Bank added.
Chuma Ezirim, head, Cards and Physical Channels for FirstBank while commenting on this initiative 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,” Ezirimexplained.
“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”.
At the close of today’s trading on the Nigerian bourse, shares of FBN Holdings Plc, parent company of FirstBank surged 10.25 percent to N4.41 from N4.00 recorded the previous session.
