BlackBerry May Introduce Custom BBM PINs, but You Might Have to Pay for It

Lots of new stuff coming from BlackBerry in the last couple of weeks. Since the company changed its CEO, it has become more obvious that BlackBerry is looking for ways to monetize some of the service it offers.

For the time being, one of the few services that haven't been compromised is BlackBerry Messenger (BBM), so it's safe to assume that the Canadian company would want to monetize on this one as much as possible without hindering the use of the standard features. We've been reporting for about a week or so about BlackBerry's recent statements that it does not take into consideration any ads for the BBM Chats, as well as on the introduction of Stickers, something that only BlackBerry OS users can now take advantage of. Selling packs of stickers for BBM users on Android and iOS users makes sense and this is now being tested by BlackBerry. Another smart move from BlackBerry may be the introduction of custom BBM PINs.

A BBM PIN is an eight-digit code that can be used to add another BlackBerry Messenger user to the list of contact. Each BBM users has his/her unique PIN (personal identification number), which allows them to communicate with other BlackBerry users by sending them their PIN code. Well, it appears that BlackBerry thinks it would be wise to allows BBM users to customize their PINs for easier use. That means that instead of having to memorize an eight digit code that has been randomly issued to you by BlackBerry's systems you will be able to use your own code. The folks over at N4BB have just uncovered evidence that BlackBerry is now doing some research among BBM users to see if people would be interested in customizing their PINs. But that's not all. According to some screenshots taken from a survey BlackBerry has sent to BBM users, those who wish to customize their PINs would have to pay in order to get their own PIN attached to their BBM account.

No amount has been decided yet, but BlackBerry is asking BBM users how much they would be willing to pay for their customized PINs. BlackBerry is considering the introduction of a one-time fee for the customized PINs feature or an annual subscription. The latter would probably mean that you would be willing to change your PIN more than one time in one year, while the former option is likely to offer you the possibility to customize your PIN only one time, after which you will have to pay the same fee if you wish to change it again. Given the fact the new feature is not yet implemented and BlackBerry is only gathering information, we don't expect customizable PINs to be available for BBM for at least a few months, but stay tuned for more updates on the matter.

BlackBerry custom BBM PINs survey
Image credits to N4BB

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