BALDERTON CAPITAL, led by Irishman Barry Maloney, announced on Monday that it was the lead investor in a $20 million (€13.44 million) second-stage funding round by Bling Nation, a California-based mobile payments provider.

This news should have sparked the interest of Corkman John Nagle, whose own company, Zapa Technology, is operating in a similar space. Bling has developed a technology using near-field communication (NFC) that allows consumers to tap their mobile phone against a “blinger” beside shop tills and pay for their goods. It’s a handy substitute for credit cards and cash and should prove cost-effective for all participants in the transaction – retailers, customers and banks.

Consumers simply tap to pay at tills, which is followed by an instant text message with the transaction information, an updated account balance and a rewards balance.

NFC is seen as a successor technology to Bluetooth and its uses could include gathering loyalty points with retailers and using mobile phones as electronic work access devices. It’s very much in its infancy at present but could turn out to be a smart investment by Balderton.

To date, Bling has been concentrating its efforts on two areas in Colorado but it plans to expand across the US over time.

In Europe, Nagle’s Zapa, launched this year with the backing of Delta Partners, is leading the charge in NFC.

Nagle and Balderton have history. They were co-investors in Irish mobile top-up group Payzone (formerly Alphyra) until a spectacular falling out at the beginning of 2008 led to the Corkman being sacked.

Nagle eventually received close to €1 million in compensation. Payzone, meanwhile, limps along, worth only a fraction of its initial public offering valuation two years ago. It remains to be seen whether Bling and Zapa will go head to head. If they do, Nagle and Balderton’s history should add spice to proceedings.