UK firm Monitise gets Indonesian money moving

A British technology company is to trial the world’s first mobile payments service for the popular BlackBerry Messenger (BBM) service in Indonesia, following a trade delegation to the country last year led by David Cameron.

Monitise said the technology, which has been approved via Indonesia’s central bank, would be launched shortly after a commercial pilot in the South-East Asian country. Monitise, which specialises in mobile banking and payment services, said BlackBerry users in Indonesia would be able to transfer money via their smartphones as well as make payments to their BBM contacts signed up to the service.

CEO Alastair Lukies said: “We see first-hand the appetite that consumers around the world  have to manage their money  on the move simply, safely  and securely.”

Monitise delivered a 63% leap in revenues to £27.8 million over the six months to December 31,  but made an increased loss of £24.4 million following the acquisition of Clairmail and  capital investment.