La Junta, Colorado-based The State Bank went live with Redi Pay Bling on May 21, its bank-branded version of Bling Nation’s mobile payments network. Reportedly, the network enables banks and merchants to avoid global network costs and keep money within the community through a secure local debit network.
The bank has claimed that in just over four months more than 80% of its active debit card customers in the target market activated a BlingTag. It took almost a decade for the bank to see similar adoption of standard credit and debit card networks among its customers. The State Bank has also experienced more than 50% penetration among its target merchants. Further, since the implementation of Redi Pay Bling, the bank has not received any reports of fraud or lost BlingTags.
Brad Rose, vice president of Information Technology and Security for The State Bank, said: “We have been blown away by how quickly the La Junta community has embraced mobile payments from physically tapping their phones to make a payment instead of pulling out their wallets to understanding the tangible benefits of a local payments network. In the first 90 days, we acquired 23 new business accounts as a result of offering mobile payments – twice as many we had in the two previous years. Redi Pay Bling transaction volume currently occupies more than 20 percent of The State Bank’s local debit transaction volume.”
“Merchants that have enrolled in Redi Pay Bling are seeing higher BlingTag transaction volumes than debit transactions, which demonstrates that the residents of La Junta enjoy paying with their phones. Right now, our customers are making about five transactions per month with their phones, and the number is growing,” Mr.Rose added.
The State Bank provides mobile payments, online banking, investment, account management and loan services to individual and commercial customers in southwest Colorado.
Bling Nation brings mobile payments to consumers and merchant points of sale. It also enables financial institutions and merchants to offer consumers rewards programs and real-time redemptions, promoting loyalty and convenience and supporting “shop local” initiatives.
