VeriFone, Bling Nation Team for Mobile Tap-and-pay Initiative

VeriFone Systems Inc. has teamed with Bling Nation Inc. on an introductory mobile payments program, employing VeriFone payment solutions, the company reported.

The new program gives consumers the ability to simply tap and pay for purchases using a BlingTag at physical point-of-sale systems with contactless technology. It also allows customers to purchase goods via alternative payment methods -- including PayPal and direct debit of bank accounts -- while automatically receiving real-time account balance updates and instant rewards through an intelligent loyalty program, according to the companies.

“This introductory program brings together the best from each market to create a compelling alternative way to pay,” said Paul Rasori, SVP, marketing at San Jose, Calif.-based VeriFone. “Bling Nation is combining the payment power of PayPal and point-of-sale footprint of VeriFone to deliver consumer benefits at the convergence of mobile payments.”

Palo Alto, Calif.-based Bling Nation is distributing the contactless/NFC-enabled VeriFone VX 810 Duet for countertops and wireless VX 680 to participating merchants as fully functional “Blingers” that accept payments from consumers using BlingTags -- a quarter-sized microchip sticker -- to tap and pay.

After the conclusion of the introductory program, VeriFone will be enhancing its PAYware Connect transaction gateway service to allow PAYware merchants to seamlessly consolidate traditional and alternative payment methods on a single card-acceptance device, the vendor said. The VeriFone, Bling and PayPal X platform solution will be available to over 350 existing PAYware Connect resellers.