JPMorgan, UBS Said to Be Considering Letting Employees Use iPhones

According to Bloomberg News, some large banks, including JPMorgan and UBS, are considering officially allowing employees to use the Apple iPhone for corporate email, for the first time allowing a mobile alternative to the BlackBerry.

"JPMorgan is testing the Apple device and other smart phones based on Google's Android software," the report said. The bank has about 220,000 employees worldwide. "UBS, Switzerland's biggest bank, said it is also considering allowing its staff of 63,000 to use iPhones for company messaging."

UK-based Standard Chartered Bank announced in May that it is switching from the BlackBerry to the iPhone for employees and expects to have 15,000 distributed by year-end. "We're all about moving forward," said Jan Verplancke, CIO and group head of technology and operations for Standard Chartered in a statement at the time. "We believe that giving people complete mobile access to the systems they need to do their job will dramatically increase productivity and employee satisfaction. Time is a commodity in our business. To remain responsive to our customers, we have to be able to connect to the office wherever we are, at any given time."