BofA might allow workers to use iPhones

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Bank of America Corp. is considering allowing its employees to use iPhones for corporate e-mail and is testing software for the Apple Inc. smart phone to make it more secure, according to Bloomberg News.
Research in Motion Ltd.’s Blackberry phone has long been favored in the corporate world because of its security and reliability. But Bloomberg said the bank is one of numerous companies experimenting with alternative mobile devices as workers adopt other smart phones for personal use.
Citigroup Inc. also is reportedly considering allow iPhones and devices that use Google Inc.’s Android software.
Apple is working to improve the iPhone’s security by strengthening encryption tools, adding the ability to set longer pass codes and integrating with server computers that can wipe out or lock an iPhone if it’s lost. The company also enlisted computer-services provider Unisys Corp. to help it sell more devices to corporate customers.
Apple said last month that 80 percent of the Fortune 500 companies are deploying or testing the iPhone, including Procter & Gamble Co. and General Electric Co.
The trials at Bank of America and Citigroup involve more than 1,000 employees, Bloomberg said. Testing, which typically takes four to six weeks, is advanced at Bank of America and will be followed by a pilot project before potentially wider implementation, one person said.
Laura Hunter, a spokesman for Charlotte, N.C.-based Bank of America, declined to comment on any specific trials, adding that “we continuously evaluate new and innovative technologies,” Bloomberg reported.