Paper cards get lost. Wallet cards don’t.
Paper stamp cards are simple, cheap and familiar – and they come with problems every shop owner knows. Here’s an honest comparison of paper cards, loyalty apps and cards that live in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet.
£12.99 a month per location · 14-day free trial · no app for your customers
Side by side
Three ways to run a stamp card.
| Compared on | Paper card | Loyalty app | Wallet card |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost to start | Design and a print run | Often a setup fee, sometimes app-store work | Free 14-day trial, no setup fee |
| Ongoing cost | Reprinting whenever anything changes | Monthly fee, sometimes per-message charges | £12.99 a month per location, everything included |
| Joining | Hand over a card | Find, download and sign up to an app | Scan a QR code, two taps |
| Lost or forgotten cards | Common – and people give up | Only if they keep the app | Lives in Wallet with their bank cards |
| Fake stamps | Rubber stamps are easy to copy | Hard to fake | Only staff with a PIN can stamp; every stamp logged |
| Telling regulars about offers | Not possible | Push notifications, if they allow them | Offer on the card plus a lock-screen notification |
| Knowing your regulars | No idea who has a card | Yes | Members, visits and rewards; download any time |
| Changing the design | Reprint, and old cards linger | Depends on the provider | Publish – every card updates itself |
| Speed at the till | Fast | Varies | Scan and tap |
The honest bit
When paper is fine, and when it isn’t.
Paper works when you’re just starting out and want to see whether customers care about a reward at all. It’s quick, it costs little, and everybody understands it.
It stops working when it matters most: once you have regulars. Cards get lost, so people stop collecting. Stamps get copied, so rewards go to the wrong people. And you never learn who your best customers are, or have a way to tell them about a quiet-day offer.
Loyalty apps fix those problems but add a new one: most customers won’t download an app for one shop. A card in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet keeps the simplicity of paper – scan, tap, done – with everything paper can’t do. If you’re switching, our guide to moving from paper to digital takes a week.
Questions about switching
Are paper stamp cards still worth it?
For a brand-new shop testing whether a scheme works at all, paper is a cheap way to start. Once you have regulars, a digital card solves the problems paper can’t: lost cards, fake stamps, and not knowing who your customers are.
Will older customers manage a digital card?
If they have a smartphone, it’s two taps – the same camera-and-tap they use for menus and boarding passes. Staff can help at the counter, and the card can also live in the browser.
Can I run paper and digital together?
Yes. Many shops keep honouring paper cards for a few months while all new members go digital. Moving stamps across is quick.
Is a Wallet card the same as a loyalty app?
No. A loyalty app has to be found, downloaded and signed into. A Wallet card goes into Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which are already on the phone.
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