Itaú Unibanco upgrades its smartphones and Management Solution to BlackBerry 10

Source: BlackBerry Press - Press Releases - March 12, 2014 

Itaú Unibanco upgrades its smartphones and Management Solution to BlackBerry 10

Sao Paulo, Brazil – BlackBerry Limited (NASDAQ: BBRY; TSX), a world leader in mobile communications, and Itaú Unibanco, the largest private bank in Latin America, today announced that Itaú Unibanco is upgrading its base of more than 7,000 BlackBerry® smartphones to BlackBerry® 10 smartphones. The bank is initially deploying 1,000 BlackBerry® Q5 smartphones, and will be taking its base to BlackBerry 10 OS version 10.2.1 and BlackBerry® Enterprise Service 10 for enterprise mobility management (EMM), in order to manage and its smartphone environment and protect corporate data.

Itaú Unibanco is renowned in the market for its operational excellence and for its high level of commitment to information security. The need for a solution that meets the strict security requirements of the financial sector and allows for a high-level IT control without impacting on end users’ experience was what led Itaú Unibanco to BlackBerry.

“Enterprise mobility is a key technology for us. That is why we selected BlackBerry, which offers the best options for our employees by helping them increase responsiveness, while it maintains security and flexibility for our IT group,” said Luis Antonio Rodrigues, Executive Director of Itaú Unibanco.

“Itaú Unibanco was one of the first customers to use the BlackBerry solution in Latin America. We have a long-standing partnership that is based on trust. We are honored to support Itaú Unibanco, which selected BlackBerry for its secure corporate mobility solution,” said Wes Nicol, Managing Director of BlackBerry for Latin America.

About BlackBerry

A global leader in mobile communications, BlackBerry® revolutionized the mobile industry when it was introduced in 1999. Today, BlackBerry aims to inspire the success of our millions of customers around the world by continuously pushing the boundaries of mobile experiences. Founded in 1984 and based in Waterloo, Ontario, BlackBerry operates offices in North America, Europe, Asia Pacific and Latin America. The Company trades under the ticker symbols "BB" on the Toronto Stock Exchange and "BBRY" on the NASDAQ. For more information, visit www.blackberry.com.

About Itaú Unibanco

Itaú Unibanco is one of the largest banks in the world in terms of market value. It is a leader in private banking, vehicle financing, and in the credit card market, with 32.5 million credit card accounts in Brazil and more than 1 million credit cards in Latin America. In addition to its robust operations with enterprises, the bank has also made significant progress in the market of estate and consigned credit. The performance of Itaú Unibanco in the stock exchange supports the credibility of its market strategy. With 95,700 employees by the end of 2013 - over 6,900 of them in foreign offices, Itaú Unibanco has a service network of 32,891 branches in Brazil and abroad. The bank operates in more than a thousand Brazilian municipalities and has branches and offices in other countries of Latin America, Europe, Middle East and Asia.