Bling Nation brings Japanese like mobile payments to US

Bling Nation, the startup that has raised $ 8 million in funding, is launching a service with the help of which customers will be able to purchase items in stores with their cell phones. This service will bring the Japanese practice of paying for goods with cell phones to the U.S. where the infrastructure, awareness, and access for mobile payments on widespread level are lacked. 

The secure stickers with RFID will be attached to any handset which customers will swipe near special terminals to make purchases after which they will receive an SMS message that serves as a receipt. In order to be used the stickers are to be activated and they are disabled when the user loses the phone. A sales terminal costing about $150 is necessary to implement the system of Bling Nation.  

The convenience of the system for customers to make purchases and much lower transaction fee compared to other credit card companies can be regarded as the advantages of Bling Nation system.

"Bling Nation is enabling innovative mobile payments solutions that are much more convenient and significantly safer than paying with a credit card or cash," says Eric O'Brien, managing director at Lightspeed Venture Partners. 

Bling Nation is commencing activities in a highly competitive field where companies as Visa and MasterCard operate; however, the signing up for a mobile payment program by 25% of the State Bank customers in La Junta, Colorado can be regarded as an initial success of the company.