Bling Nation Mobile Community Payments Keep $$$ Local

"Woodland Park is a community that encourages residents to shop locally and support neighborhood merchants," said Tony Perry, president of Park State Bank & Trust. "The introduction of Bling Nation's mobile payments network to the community has been very well-received. Most of our residents work in Colorado Springs but do their banking and shopping locally, and they have embraced the ability to pay for purchases with their mobile phone ... including the Mayor."

Park State Bank & Trust has begun offering the Community Payments Service to more than 30 local merchants. Many merchants, such as Quizno's, Papa John's, Big O Tire, Seven Arrows Gallery, Charitable Treasures, The UPS Store in Gold Hills Square and Studio West were quick to sign up for the Community Payments Service.

"I want to support 'shop local' and had been looking for an automated way to track customer loyalty as far as offering discounts without having to [send] postcards, the paper side of it," said Sue Greene, owner of The UPS Store.

Consumers are embracing the ease and benefits mobile payments as well.

"I already Blinged," said Darlene Holloway. "I think it's marvelous. Everybody is fed up with credit cards. It beats carrying cash everywhere to pay for stuff. Plus, you have a great record for what you spend your money on."

Park State Bank & Trust is working to capture the 24,000 Teller, Colo. county residents who work in Colorado Springs, but live in Woodland Park. The bank plans to expand their mobile payments network to include Divide, Colo. merchants as well. The Woodland Park business community, as well as the city and county government, has pulled together to support the community and Bling Nation's Community Payments Service further supports these shop local initiatives.

"With more than 7,600 residents that work and shop locally, Woodland Park is an ideal community to benefit from our mobile payments network," said Meyer Malka, co-CEO of Bling Nation. "Our Community Payments Service provides consumers with a fast and secure way to pay for purchases. Circumventing traditional global network and their interchange fees enables Park State Bank & Trust to retain more profit from each transaction and to offer participating merchants better processing rates and consumers rewards programs. The bank has signed more than 30 merchants to date, and we expect to see continued growth and adoption by consumers, merchants and neighboring financial institutions."

Bling Nation's core technology is an integrated issuing and acquiring platform designed specifically for local and regional banks. Through its Community Payments Service, Bling Nation enables financial institutions to more profitably support payments between their local demand deposit account (DDA) customers and their merchant customers by bypassing the current global debit payment model with an efficient, cost-effective and local payment network.

About Park State Bank & Trust

Established in 1965, Woodland Park, Colo.-based Park State Bank & Trust ($100 million in assets) provides mobile payments, online banking, investment, account management and loan services to individual and commercial customers in central Colorado. With the largest deposit marketshare in Woodland Park at 43 percent, Park State Bank & Trust is an equal housing lender, member FDIC, with two branches and six ATMs. For more information or to locate a branch or ATM, visit www.mypsb.com.

About Bling Nation

Bling Nation brings mobile payments to consumers and merchant points of sale, offering lower costs, increased efficiency and improved security compared to credit cards, debit cards, checks and cash. Its Community Payments Service creates a local payments network between financial institutions, consumers and merchants. Bling Nation also enables financial institutions and merchants to offer consumers robust rewards programs and real-time redemptions, promoting loyalty and convenience and supporting "shop local" initiatives.

For additional information, visit www.blingnation.com.