Falcon’s Farmer’s State Bank and The State Bank have introduced Bling, a form of mobile payments, to their customers. And it’s catching on fast.Bling Nation has teamed up with small community banks to offer their customers a safe and easy method to make purchases; at the same time, their money stays within the community.The process is simple. The customer receives a BlingTag microchip to place on the back of his or her mobile phone device. When a purchase is made, the customer taps the BlingTag on the merchant’s Blinger, which works similar to swiping a credit card, and the transaction is instantly processed and debited from the customer’s account. The customer receives a text message confirmation of the purchase and up-to-date account information as well.Because the entire transaction is performed digitally, there is no information stored on the BlingTag.”The risk of fraud is very minimal,” said Daria Paul Ilgen, Bling’s western region marketing director. The transaction also goes directly through the bank, and the only entities involved in the transaction are the bank, the merchant and the Bling company; thereby, eliminating the middle man used in standard transactions.Bling transactions save the customer money and keep the money within the community. Bling’s transaction fees are bracketed into tiers and are about 30 to 90 percent less than typical transaction fees. The Bling system doesn’t allow customers to spend more than they have in their accounts, which eliminates overdraft fees.The State Bank in La Junta, Colo., was the first bank in Colorado to jump on the Bling bandwagon. Bling began offering its services about two years ago, and the La Junta bank joined a year later.”The customers love the reward points and the banks are always looking for a way to provide additional value to customers,” Ilgen said. Customers earn discounts, points and coupons with each purchase, he said. The standard reward is a 5 percent cash back reward on purchases up to $200, but Bling routinely sends out text messages to its consumers, alerting them to new rewards and promotions. Individual financial institutions can also offer their own rewards and incentives. For more information on Bling, visit www.blingnation.com.
