Bling Nation, Palo Alto, California start-up founded in 2007 as a mobile payment service provider, which bypassed the industry players, such as Visa and MasterCard. Bling Nation partnership with local community banks and merchants in small towns. Banks have provided their customers with Bling Nation "tag" microarray stickers that can be placed on any mobile device phone. Tag allows users to make payments directly from their checking accounts and act like a debit card. While Bling Nation has raised $ 33 million, and its founders were convinced of the market potential of mobile payments, they acknowledged the challenges they face in expanding their current business model. "Hide
by William A. Sahlman, Liz Kind Source: Harvard Business School 26 pages. Publication Date: November 15, 2010. Prod. #: 811029-PDF-ENG