Stamps
Café Sonnig
Name
Mara L.
Reward
Free coffee
#10472
DIGITAL LOYALTY CARD
The digital loyalty card: in the wallet, no app for your customers.
Loyalty card, rewards card, stamp card: mostly different words for the same thing. Here is how it works digitally, why it belongs in the wallet rather than in an app of its own, and what it costs.
No app for your customers · live in 10 minutes · GDPR by design
9:41
Friday, 14 March
Walletnow
Just 1 stamp to your free coffee
Example view for Apple Wallet, Google Wallet looks slightly different.
The short version
- A digital loyalty card is a rewards card that lives in Apple or Google Wallet on your customer’s phone, instead of paper or plastic in their purse.
- Your customers need no app for it: both wallets are already installed on every smartphone. One scan, one tap, done.
- There are five card types; the most common are the stamp card and the points card.
- With tapja you start free, need no POS system and go live in about 10 minutes.
THE BASICS
What is a digital loyalty card?
The short definition
A digital loyalty card is the electronic counterpart of the classic customer or rewards card: instead of cardboard or plastic, it sits on the smartphone. Customers collect stamps or points with it and redeem rewards. For you, an anonymous visit turns into a recognisable regular, without anyone hunting for a plastic card.
Loyalty card, rewards card, stamp card: what is the difference?
In practice: nothing that should change your decision. “Loyalty card” is the broadest term and covers any card that ties a customer to your business. “Rewards card” leans on the benefit, “stamp card” on the mechanic behind it. Day to day, all of them get used interchangeably. What matters more than the word is which reward logic fits your business. More on that below.
Why go digital at all?
The paper card has a structural problem: it stays at home, it gets lost, and it tells you nothing. You never learn how many cards are in circulation, who is one visit from a reward, or who has not been in for eight weeks. A digital card, by contrast, is always on hand, cannot be forged, and quietly delivers the numbers you need to actually steer your programme.
And the effort involved?
Less than most people expect. No POS system, no integration and no IT contractor required. You design the card in your browser, print a QR code and put it on the counter. Stamping happens by phone or tablet. If you already have a barcode scanner at the till, you can keep using it: on request the card shows Code 128, PDF417 or Aztec instead of a QR code.
No app for your customers
Why the wallet beats a loyalty app of your own.
The obvious idea is a branded app of your own. In practice it fails at the same point almost every time: nobody installs an app for a café. The wallet route sidesteps that hurdle by using an app that is already on every phone.
No download hurdle
Apple Wallet and Google Wallet come preinstalled. Between “interested” and “card on the phone” sit one scan and one tap, not an app store visit for your customers.
No account, no password
Your customers create no account and remember no password. It takes a name and an email, nothing more. The birthday stays voluntary.
No storage, no updates
A wallet card takes practically no space and never needs updating. It does not go stale and does not get caught in a spring clean.
No development cost
A custom app runs into five figures to build and needs permanent upkeep afterwards. The wallet card is part of your plan.
THE FIVE CARD TYPES
Which kind of loyalty card fits you?
All of them run in Apple & Google Wallet, all with no app for your customers. The difference is what the card counts.
Stamp card
The classic: ten visits, one reward. Best for similar purchases at similar prices: coffee, bread, a haircut.
Read morePoints card
Points per purchase, flexibly redeemable. A fit when your baskets vary in size and you want several reward tiers.
Read moreBenefits card
Counts nothing and carries redeemable perks, each with a period and a limit per customer. A fit when weeks pass between visits (from Home Base).
Read morePackage card
The ten-visit card in the wallet: units paid upfront at your counter that count down with each use (from Home Base).
Read moreMembership card
A status with a term and fixed perks, such as a customer club. It collects nothing; the status is the perk (from Home Base).
Read more
APPLE & GOOGLE WALLET
On every phone, no exceptions.
You maintain one programme and your customers get the card on the platform they already use. How each platform works in detail is on the two pages below.
Apple Wallet
iPhone & Apple Watch
A loyalty card in Apple Wallet, no guest app
Read moreGoogle Wallet
Android & Wear OS
A loyalty card in Google Wallet, no guest app
Read moreFor your customers the difference is barely noticeable: same card, same flow, same rewards. Technically there are two separate systems behind it. That is tapja’s problem, not yours.
Available for Apple Wallet & Google Wallet
COST
What does a digital loyalty card cost?
Considerably less than the topic’s reputation suggests. Because there are no cards to print and no readers to buy, the classic side costs disappear. With tapja you start free for good and only pay once your programme grows.
- No printing costs, no reorders, no card inventory.
- No reader and no POS system: a phone or tablet is enough.
- No minimum term: cancel monthly, export your data any time.
- Paid plans scale with the number of active cards, not with add-on modules.
PRIVACY
Digital loyalty cards and GDPR.
A loyalty card processes personal data, which puts it under GDPR. The usual mistake is collecting more than necessary and then using it for whatever comes up. tapja is built the other way round: data minimisation by default, servers in the EU, separate consent for marketing and strict purpose limitation. What is collected is a name and an email, nothing else; the birthday stays voluntary and is used only for the birthday campaign.
More on privacy and how it worksCOMPARED
Plastic, paper or wallet?
The three routes side by side, including the points where the older options still earn their keep.
Always to hand
- Plastic card
- Only if the purse is too
- Paper card
- Often left at home
- tapja
- On the phone, which is there anyway
Cost per card
- Plastic card
- Printing and shipping per unit
- Paper card
- Cheap, but reprinted constantly
- tapja
- No unit cost
If it is lost
- Plastic card
- Card gone, progress gone
- Paper card
- Card gone, progress gone
- tapja
- Progress lives with the account, not the device
Forgery
- Plastic card
- Moderate
- Paper card
- A stamp is quickly copied
- tapja
- Signed card, PIN-protected stamping
Data & insight
- Plastic card
- Only with POS integration
- Paper card
- None
- tapja
- Visits, regulars and rewards in the dashboard
Winning customers back
- Plastic card
- Only through other channels
- Paper card
- Not possible
- tapja
- Automatic reminders where consent exists
Effort to start
- Plastic card
- Design, print, delivery time
- Paper card
- Immediate, but manual
- tapja
- About 10 minutes in the browser
Where it wins
- Plastic card
- Premium look and feel
- Paper card
- Very small programmes, no phone needed
- tapja
- Anything meant to grow and be measurable
10 min until your program is live
2 wallets Apple & Google included
€0 to get started, no card needed
EU server location, privacy built in from day one
Common questions about digital loyalty cards.
Question not listed?
Write to us, a person will answer.
What is a digital loyalty card?
A rewards card that lives in Apple or Google Wallet on a smartphone instead of being made of paper or plastic. Customers collect stamps or points with it and redeem rewards; you see in the dashboard who keeps coming back.
Do my customers need an app for it?
No. Apple Wallet and Google Wallet are already installed on every smartphone. Your customers scan a QR code and tap “Add to Wallet” once: no download, no account, no password.
What does a digital loyalty card cost?
With tapja you start free for good, no credit card needed. Paid plans start at €29 a month and scale with the number of active cards. There are no printing costs, readers or setup fees.
Do I need a POS system?
No, tapja runs independently of your POS. Stamping happens by phone or tablet. If you already have a barcode scanner at the till, the card can show Code 128, PDF417 or Aztec instead of a QR code.
Is a digital loyalty card GDPR-compliant?
It can be; it depends on the implementation. tapja relies on data minimisation, servers in the EU, separate marketing consent and strict purpose limitation. From your guests it collects a name and an email, nothing more; the birthday stays voluntary.
What is the difference between a loyalty card and a stamp card?
“Loyalty card” is the umbrella term for any card used to retain customers. The stamp card is one particular flavour of it, counting visits. Alongside it sit the points card, where every euro of spend counts, and the benefits card, which counts nothing at all and carries redeemable benefits instead.
How long does setup take?
About 10 minutes: create an account, design the card, set the reward, print the QR sign. No technical background needed.
Get your first loyalty card into the wallet.
Start free for good, no credit card and no app for your customers.