Canadian smartphone maker RIM is closer to picking its financial advisor and JPMorgan Chase & Co is the leading candidate, Bloomberg reported on Friday. A source who wished to remain anonymous said the decision may arrive in a matter of days. The company is considering a licensing deal for its tech or a strategic investment, sources indicated, and has even talked with Bank of America.
The Bank of America has started a pilot program that involves wireless payments using customers' smartphones, an unnamed source told BGR. Dubbed Mobile Wallet, the system relies on NFC technology and is so far only compatible with BlackBerry handsets. Bank of America sends users an NFC chip-equipped battery cover for their handset along with a microSD card.
Borders' financial troubles in the e-book era could come to a head early next week after a leak has revealed it's close to bankruptcy. The bookseller is now believed to be filing a non-permanent Chapter 11 bankruptcy as soon as Monday or Tuesday. Its plan would see it get debtor-in-possession financial backing during the bankruptcy of as much as $450 million from Bank of America or GE, but it would also close 200 of its existing 674 stores, the WSJ sources behind the leak said.
Both Bank of American and Citigroup are running tests on services that would let workers drop the BlackBerry and use an iPhone instead, leaks from both companies mentioned on Friday. Three contacts said the two are trialing software that would keep e-mail secure. Bloomberg in getting the details didn't say whether they were simply using built-in Exchange support or if third-party apps were involved.
Bank of America and Visa have announced a joint plan to trial a smartphone payment system to make purchases in the New York area starting next month. While this technology has been used for some time in countries such as Japan, it would be the first time that this technology has been implemented in the US on this basis. The system like others would rely on small NFC (near field communications) chips in smartphones.
