No need to lug reward cards around
SHOPPERS are rapidly ditching the wad of loyalty cards and instead are embedding them in smartphones.
The free mobile wallet app Stocard allows loyalty cards to be stored digitally. It already has
2.2 million Australian iOS and Android users and is growing at a pace of 100,000 per month.
Stocard allows shoppers to upload their card information into the app and hold each program’s applicable barcode and photos of the card for safe keeping.
For some schemes it provides consumers with latest catalogues and points balance updates.
Sports equipment designer Gary Elphick, 30, travels wallet-free, using Apple Pay to make payments while storing all his rewards schemes inside his smartphone app.
“I used to see rewards points as pointless but now being able to store everything in my phone, I’m more of a fiend,’’ he said.
“Having all the cards in one place is great rather than having to download a heap of different apps.”
Some of the most popular rewards programs in Australia include Woolworths Rewards program with 10 million members and Flybuys with eight million members.
Stocard managing director Radinck van Vollenhoven said the app was a secure way to store cards so consumers could travel lighter.
“We work with retailers that have loyalty programs to push out special offers and find out about deals inside the app,’’ he said. “It can be a research tool to help you save money and remind you to use the card instore to collect loyalty points.”
Woolworths recently rolled out a facility for shoppers to add their rewards card directly into their Apple Wallet, which means they don’t need an additional app to store their card.
They can tap their Apple wallet at the checkout and up pops their card.
Samsung Electronics Australia’s head of product and services, Mark Hodgson, said Samsung Pay also stored loyalty cards and reduced the need to carry excess baggage.
“It’s a simple process where you swipe up to enter the app, scan the barcode on your loyalty card and then authenticate yourself via an iris scan, fingerprint or PIN to make the payment,’’ he said.
He said on average Samsung Pay users had five loyalty cards neatly tucked digitally into their phone.