The customers of The State Bank of La Junta in the US have enthusiastically adopted the new mobile contactless sticker-based Redi Pay Bling service since it launched in May — and local merchants have been quick to adopt the technology, too, with 23 switching their accounts to do so since the launch.
Less than five months after becoming the first bank to rollout Bling Nation’s mobile contactless NFC sticker-based payments system, The State Bank of La Junta, Colorado has reported an adoption rate of 80% amongst its active debit card customer base.
“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,” says Brad Rose, vice president of information technology and security for The State Bank. “In the first 90 days, we acquired 23 new business accounts as a result of offering mobile payments — twice as many as 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 signed up to the scheme include restaurants, convenience stores, salons, automotive repair shops, veterinary clinics and wireless providers. Already, a penetration rate of more than 50% of The State Bank’s target merchants has been achieved.
“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,” continued Rose. “Right now, our customers are making about five transactions per month with their phones, and the number is growing.”
And, since the implementation of Redi Pay Bling, The State Bank has not received any reports of fraud nor have any lost BlingTags been reported.
“When Bling Nation began work in La Junta, we were confident The State Bank could lead the charge for mobile payments,” explained Wences Casares, co-CEO of Bling Nation. “What we did not foresee was the incredible and speedy adoption rates of mobile payments by consumers and merchants alike. To date, 62 percent of The State Bank’s active debit account users have transacted with a BlingTag, and we expect that number to continue rising.”
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