JPMorgan Chase is considering letting staff use iPhones and Google Android-based handsets as an alternative to BlackBerrys for corporate e-mail, according to Bloomberg.
The bank - which employees around 220,000 staff worldwide - is already testing the devices for security with a decision set to be made by the end of the year, says Bloomberg, citing two people familiar with the situation.
UBS is also considering letting its employees use iPhones for company messages in the latest sign that BlackBerry maker Research in Motion (RIM) is losing its tight grip on the corporate market.
In May, Standard Chartered revealed it is switching from BlackBerry to Apple's iPhone for its staff and Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp has begun offering employees a choice between the two rival manufacturers.
Apple and Google Android have taken huge chunks of the smart phone market since launching but the bulk of their success has come from consumer customers.
Now BlackBerry is also being challenged in the enterprise market and, according to BCG analyst Colin Gillis it is an "ageing king" fighting off not just Google and Apple but, in the near future, Windows Phone7 devices and a revamped Palm product.
JPMorgan Said to Test IPhone, BlackBerry Alternatives - Bloomberg