Thursday March 9, 10:55 am Eastern Time
Company Press Release
SOURCE: Indigo.ca
Online Retailer Indigo.ca Goes Wireless
724 Solutions and Bank of Montreal put the best of Indigo in the palm of your hand
TORONTO, March 9 /PRNewswire/ -- Indigo.ca (www.indigo.ca) -- Canada's premier online retailer of books, gifts, flowers and more -- today became the first Canadian retailer to offer wireless shopping capability to its customers. Indigo.ca's new wireless service, in collaboration with Bank of Montreal, 724 Solutions (Nasdaq: SVNX - news; Toronto: SVN - news) and Bell Mobility, will be available in early April.
``Indigo is committed to making online shopping easy, secure and enjoyable,' said Heather Reisman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Indigo Books, Music and more. ``With Indigo wireless, we're doing something that no other Canadian retailer has done - we're bringing the Indigo experience into the palm of the customer's hand.'
According to Greg Wolfond, Chief Executive Officer, 724 Solutions, ``Indigo.ca is the ideal partner because of their leadership in multi-channel retailing that presents customers with the power to buy anytime, anywhere. Our combined vision is focused on serving the customer securely and conveniently in the mobile space.'
Customers can access Indigo.ca through Veev, the wireless service provided by Bank of Montreal and developed by 724 Solutions, available on Bell Mobility ``dot-com ready' mobile phones. Indigo.ca will appear on Veev's service menu alongside wireless banking and investment products, and lifestyle services such as news, weather and horoscopes.
In early April, Indigo.ca customers can access a series of bestseller lists - including Indigo Bestsellers, National Post Bestsellers, and New York Times Bestsellers - and purchase selections from those lists through Indigo.ca's Express Checkout. In the near future, all of Indigo.ca's products including books, music, flowers and gifts, will be accessible through the wireless service. Indigo.ca's wireless service will provide discounts to customers with Indigo Circle Discount cards.
For its part, Bank of Montreal is operating the Veev service and offering customers the built-in security of its 724 Solutions Financial Services Platform, on which Veev is running.
``We are expanding Veev to provide benefits to merchants as well as consumers,' said Jeffrey S. Chisholm, Vice-Chair, Personal and Commercial Client Group, Bank of Montreal. ``In the coming months, we plan to aggressively grow our service and functionality.'
Veev has been live since October 1999 to all Bell Mobility browser-enabled phone customers in Ontario and Quebec with ``dot-com ready' mobile phones. ``Bell Mobility is pleased to extend its wireless online shopping capabilities to now include Indigo.ca,' said Charlotte Burke, Vice-President, Services Development Bell Mobility. ``This is a perfect example of how we are working with our partners to provide Bell Mobility customers with access to the best of the Web on their PCS phones.'
Last month, Veev was expanded to include wireless trading through InvestorLine, Bank of Montreal's discount brokerage.
About Indigo
Indigo Books & Music Inc., through Indigo.ca and Indigo Books Music & more, is a fully integrated, multi-channel retailer. Indigo is committed to providing booklovers, culturemakers, and information and entertainment seekers with the most inspiring and richly stocked and inviting retail environments in the world both in-store and online. To learn more about Indigo.ca, please visit the website at www.indigo.ca.
About 724 Solutions
724 Solutions provides an Internet infrastructure solution to financial institutions that enables them to offer personalized and secure online banking, brokerage and e-commerce services across a wide range of Internet- enabled wireless and consumer electronic devices. The Company's solution currently enables consumers to access online banking and brokerage services through network service providers using digital mobile phones, personal digital assistants, two-way pagers and personal computers. 724 Solutions common shares are listed on the NASDAQ (SVNX) and TSE (SVN) stock exchanges. Headquartered in Toronto, Canada, the company has offices in London, U.K., San Francisco, U.S., Sydney, Australia, and Tokyo, Japan. For additional information visit www.724.com.
About Bank of Montreal
Bank of Montreal, Canada's first bank, is a leading innovator in electronic business initiatives. In addition to being the first bank in North America to deliver wireless banking and investment services, Bank of Montreal offers mbanx Direct, which provides electronic financial services to nearly one million customers in Canada; Cebra, the bank's e-business subsidiary, which recently launched Epost, in conjunction with Canada Post; Competix.com, which markets on-line consumer loan decision making capability in North America; bmolending.com, which allows qualified small businesses to apply for a range of lending products on behalf of their customers, and FinaciaLinx, a CIT Group subsidiary, offering on-line leases to consumers through automobile dealers.
About Bell Mobility
The Bell Mobility Inc. family of companies provides a complete range of wireless communications solutions - cellular, paging, data, satellite, PCS and airline passenger communications services - to 2.5 million Canadian customers. Bell Mobility offers a complete line of Internet-enabled phones, including the NeoPoint 1000 and the Qualcomm QCP-2760. Bell Mobility Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Bell Canada.
SOURCE: Indigo.ca |
