• Bloomberg, Friday, November 5, 2010 2:21 PM

Sure to represent another nail in Research In Motion's coffin, Bank of America and Citigroup could soon let employees use Apple's iPhone as an alternative to RIM's BlackBerry for corporate e-mail. Sources tell Bloomberg that the corporate titans are testing software for the iPhone, which is designed to make it secure enough for company messages.

"The tests are the latest sign that RIM may be losing its tight grip on the corporate smartphone market," Bloomberg explains. "Companies are experimenting with alternatives, including the iPhone and devices that use Google Inc.'s Android software, as their workers adopt those smartphones for personal use." Indeed, as Nielsen Research analyst Roger Entner tells Bloomberg: "People are delighted with their iPhones and Android phones and they want to use them for work ... The result is RIM now has real competition for corporate customers." Bank of America currently has about 284,000 employees, while Citigroup has roughtly 258,000, according to Bloomberg.

Read the whole story at Bloomberg »