PALO ALTO, Calif. — Bling Nation, a payments network provider for community banks, has completed a beta project with its Community Payments Service. Employees of a Palo Alto, Calif.-based social networking organization were provided with $50 prepaid BlingTags to use at participating merchants over a 10-day period.
According to a news release, of the 32 employees Bling Nation enlisted, the average number of transactions completed per person was 3.9, with the average transaction amount being $11.99. A survey Bling Nation conducted of the beta group showed that 100 percent of participants found both the activation process and the first transaction to be easy. An additional 96 percent said they would continue to transact using the BlingTag if given the opportunity.
Bling Nation's core technology is an integrated issuing and acquiring processing platform designed specifically for local and regional banks. Through its Community Payments Service, Bling Nation enables financial institutions to support payments between their local demand deposit account customers and their merchant customers by bypassing the global debit payment model with a local payment network.
"We plan to continue testing our Community Payments Service to ensure a smooth process for our customers," said Meyer Malka of Bling Nation. "Our initial beta test proved beneficial in terms of delivering feedback we can use to further enhance the network and its delivery. We believe the need for a local payment network has never been greater, and we look forward to gathering more insight from users and honing our offering."
