Loyalty card without an app: how Wallet cards work

Why does a Wallet card need no app?

Apple Wallet and Google Wallet are the places on a phone where people keep passes: boarding passes, event tickets, payment cards. A stamp card is simply one more pass in that same place.

So your customer doesn't install anything from your shop. They add a card to a wallet they already have, the same way they would add a concert ticket.

The stamps are not kept in the phone. They are stored on the server, and the card only shows them. When you add a stamp, the card on the phone updates within seconds, often with a short notification on the lock screen.

There is also nothing to log in to. Your customer types a first name. Email and birthday are optional. That is all the card needs.

For a wider look at how this works, read what a stamp card in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet is.

What does your customer do to get the card?

Three steps, all on their own phone:

1. Scan the QR code on your poster with the phone camera.
2. Type a first name. Email and birthday are optional.
3. Tap the Apple Wallet or Google Wallet button.

The card is in the Wallet within about half a minute. An iPhone sees the Apple Wallet button first, an Android phone the Google Wallet button. If someone opens the page on a computer, they see both buttons plus a QR code to carry on with their phone.

If a customer signs up twice, on the same phone or with the same email, they get their existing card back. Not a second one.

On the card they see your logo and colours, your business name, their stamps (for example 7 / 10), the reward, their first name and a QR code. The back explains how it works and shows your latest message.

What changes at the counter?

Take a hypothetical coffee bar with a 10 stamp card and the reward a free coffee of choice. A customer asks if you have a loyalty card. Your answer fits in one sentence: scan the poster, type your name, tap Wallet. They do it while you make the coffee.

You don't explain downloads, app stores or passwords. Nobody stands at the till waiting for something to install. The card often has two welcome stamps on it before the coffee is ready. Welcome stamps are a bonus and don't count as visits.

Adding a stamp

1. Open the scanner at joinusuals.com/scan in the browser, or in the Usuals app, on any phone, tablet or laptop with a camera.
2. Scan the QR code on your customer's card.
3. Tap Add stamp.

The app here is for you and your staff, and even that is optional, since the browser scanner does the same job. Your customers never need it.

Redeeming the reward

When the card is full, the reward shows on the card. Scan it and tap Redeem reward. The stamps for that reward come off, any extra stamps stay, and your customer keeps collecting.

What you no longer need

• No till (POS) integration. Your till stays as it is.
• No special device. The phone you already have at the counter works.
• No stamp pad or pile of paper cards behind the till.

Every staff member has their own login, and every stamp is saved with the time, the staff member and the location. If the camera won't work, there is a manual code under the QR code.

Two more things help on busy days. By default a card gets one stamp per 12 hours, checked on the server, so two colleagues scanning at once still give one stamp. You can change that time per card, for example 24 hours for a barber, or turn it off. And the scanner works offline: it keeps the stamps and sends them when you are back online, with the same checks, for scans up to 72 hours old.

Does it work the same on iPhone and Android?

Yes, the card looks and works the same for you. A few details differ per platform:

At the counter you don't need to know which phone your customer has. You scan the QR code the same way.

What if a customer loses or changes their phone?

With paper, a lost card means lost stamps. Here the stamps are stored on the server, so the card can always come back.

• New phone: Apple Wallet brings the card over through iCloud. Google Wallet keeps it in the Google account.
• Lost card: the customer signs up again with the same email on the new phone and gets their existing card back.
• Too many notifications: customers can turn off notifications for your card in their Wallet. The card itself keeps working.

If you are switching from paper, you don't have to start your regulars from zero. Your customer first adds the new card to their Wallet. Then you add the stamps from their paper card in your dashboard, with a reason, so it shows in the history. For the full comparison, see paper or digital stamp card: which suits your shop. And if you want a few paper cards for customers without a smartphone, the free printable stamp card gives you a PDF with 8 cards on A4.

What about messages and privacy?

A card in the Wallet can also carry short messages, without an app.

On every plan you get a welcome message and the nearby notification: the card can appear on the lock screen when the customer is near your shop's address. Apple decides exactly when.

On the paid plans you can send offers, birthday messages and win back messages. These only reach customers who said yes when they signed up. That box is never ticked in advance. Messages are at most 160 characters.

On privacy, a few things are worth knowing:

• The QR code holds a signed code, never a customer number.
• The back of the card links to a page where your customer can see and delete their own data.
• Data stays in the EU.
• For clinics, no medical data goes on the card. It shows only the first name, stamps and reward.

How do you start?

You can have a first card ready within about three minutes, without payment details.

1. Create an account and choose your reward, the number of stamps and your colours. To see your design in Wallet first, try the free stamp card maker, no account needed.
2. Download the printable A4 poster with your logo, reward and a large QR code. Put it by the till.
3. Open the scanner on the phone or tablet at your counter and invite your staff.
4. Ask the next regular if they would like a card.

Usuals is free up to 30 customers at €0 per month, excl. VAT. Starter is €29 per month, excl. VAT, and Business €49 per month, excl. VAT, both with unlimited customers and messages. You can cancel any month. All plans are on the pricing page.

Running a coffee bar? The coffee bar stamp card page shows an example card set up for a busy counter.