“Bling tag” allows payment by cell phone

Park State Bank & Trust in Woodland Park and The State Bank in La Junta have launched Bling Nation Community Payments Service - a mobile payments network with local merchants and consumers.

Consumers affix a “Bling Tag” - a quarter-sized sticker - to their cell phones, and then tap their phones on a Bling terminal at stores to pay.

Bling Nation said it is targeting smaller communities because 85 to 90 percent of debit transactions occur within their local community, and the value proposition of mobile payments is higher for smaller banks.

The Bling tag does not store any personal or sensitive information, said Elizabeth McMillan, public relations representative for Bling Nation. “The number changes each time you use it.”

An SMS text, with the price of purchase and remaining account balance, is immediately sent to the cell phone, once a purchase has been made.

“A credit card has your name, account number, expiration date on it,” McMillan said, “and a typical transaction can touch up to five parties - it’s an opportunity for (fraud) to occur.”

Merchants who participate save the costs of credit card processing fees.

Tony Perry, president of Park State Bank & Trust, said the technology allows residents to support local merchants and support the local tax base.

One-third of the merchants in Woodland Park are already participating, and he expects another one-third will join soon.

“We hope to have all the financial institutions in Woodland Park participating,” Perry said.

An estimated 24,000 Teller County residents work in Colorado Springs.