BlackBerryOS.com - BlackBerry App World Vendor Agreement Update & BlackBerry Commerce

As we previously communicated to you, in the coming months RIM will be rolling out a new Payment Service named BlackBerry Commerce which will transition RIM to become the Merchant of Record for BlackBerry App World Credit Card & PayPal only transactions. The goal is to enhance the distribution experience, make it easier for you to administer payment acceptance and to ensure compliance with the tax requirements of many countries that Vendors sell into through BlackBerry App World. At launch, BlackBerry Commerce will become the primary Merchant of Record for App World transactions through Credit Card & PayPal.

The BlackBerry Commerce Value Proposition

A seamless transaction for customers to deal directly with Research In Motion E-Commerce which improves the overall experience, provides a simplified and flexible payment process and in turn drives customer loyalty
Enable a wider variety of payment types to tailor and personalize how customers buy products and services demonstrating that we understand and cater to their needs
Research In Motion E-Commerce will bring new and innovative payment types to customers increasing their choice, flexibility and ease of transacting
Facilitate compliance with the tax requirements of many countries

Important Details

The primary change in the Vendor Agreement is the removal of the requirement to exclusively use the BlackBerry Payment Service for in-app product transactions. The definition of Secondary Revenue and the applicability of the Secondary Revenue Fee have been clarified. Additionally, the countries associated with the agent appointments for the RIM E-Commerce Inc. and RIM E-Commerce S.à.r.l. entities have been changed such that all countries previously associated with RIM E-Commerce Inc. (other than Canada) are now associated with RIM E-Commerce S.à.r.l.
RIM will require certain Tax Information. Information regarding the documentation we require and instructions on where to upload it to the Vendor Portal can be found below
RIM will begin to issue Vendor payments in Fall 2012

What RIM Will Need From Vendors selling Paid Applications

Login to the Vendor Portal and complete the following:
Under Manage Account Details:
- Content Provider's Legal Status (eg. Select from Individual, Corporation, Partnership, etc. as appropriate)
Under Manage Account Details > Payment Info tab: Fill out necessary documents

So now would be a good time to get your vendor account updated to fit the new App World payment policy guidelines so that you don't have any issues when the new system is fully implemented.