Latino Named To Silicon Valley Top 100

PALO ALTO, CA - Bling Nation, a leading provider of social networking services and mobile payments at check out, has announced that founder and co-CEO Wences Casares was named in Business Insider's The Silicon Valley 100 list. According to Business Insider, the list recognizes individuals in the San Francisco Bay Area who have significantly supported the digital community in 2010. The Silicon Valley 100 was announced on Dec. 8 and includes iconic technology leaders and innovators Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Schmidt. Casares is the only Latin American on this year's list.

Business Insider, a business site covering finance, entertainment, green technology and industry verticals puts together this annual list and selects the top 100 from a pool of nominations that are submitted by readers. Bling Nation was recognized for the momentum the company has received from its mobile payment deployments and partnership with PayPal.

"I am truly honored to be a part of The Silicon Valley Top 100 and be among some of the most iconic and admired faces ofCalifornia's digital technology community," said Casares. "We've come along way since we started the company, and our successes are greatly due to our staff, and growing consumers and businesses that make up Bling Nation."

Casares is a global entrepreneur specializing in the technology and financial markets. In addition to founding Bling Nation, he launched Argentina's first Internet Service Provider, Internet Argentina S.A. in 1994, and later founded the online brokerage, Patagon, Latin America's first comprehensive Internet financial services portal. Casares is a member of the Young Presidents' Organization and an elected member of the World Economic Forum's "Global Leaders of Tomorrow" Class of 2001.
Since 2007, thousands of consumers and businesses have joined Bling Nation. The company offers a mobile platform that is enabling unique tap-and-connect capabilities at the physical store. The platform allows businesses to grow their customer base, save money and tap into a powerful automatic viral marketing system with a built-in loyalty program and mobile payment network. Today the company is working with several partners including PayPal, Fifth Third Processing Solutions, VeriFone and Merchant360.

Bling Nation is expanding its footprint across the U.S. in the coming months.

About Bling Nation
Bling Nation is a mobile platform that enables unique tap-and-connect capabilities with rich social media connectivity and cost-effective mobile payments at checkout. Businesses receive super-charged loyalty programs with actionable analytics, helping them turn their best customers into Fans and their friends into new customers. Bling Nation closes the loop between the online and offline customer experience at checkout.