What is a digital loyalty card?
It works exactly like the paper stamp card you already know: ten visits, one reward. The difference is the medium. Instead of a cardboard card that ends up soggy at the bottom of a bag, the card lives in the phone's Wallet — the wallet app already installed on every iPhone (Apple Wallet) and every Android (Google Wallet), the one that already holds boarding passes and concert tickets.
For your customers, there is nothing to download and nothing to remember: the card is always on them, because it is in their phone. For you, the shift runs deeper: every card issued is tied to your customer list. You know who comes back, who stops coming, and you can talk to them directly, by notification, without depending on the Instagram algorithm.
How it actually works
Behind the word "digital" sits a very proven technology: the Wallet pass (the format of boarding passes). Here is the full journey, on the customer side and the merchant side:
- You create your card: logo, colors (or a photo of your shop as the card background), loyalty rule, reward. A guided assistant handles it in under 30 minutes.
- The customer scans your QR code, placed at the counter or in the window. They give their first name, tap "Add to Apple Wallet" (or Google Wallet), and their card — in your name and your colors — is in their phone. Ten seconds, no account.
- At each visit, you scan their card's QR with your phone (or your employee's, via a dedicated staff access). The stamp is added, their card updates on its own, and they receive the notification on their lock screen.
- The reward unlocks automatically at the tenth visit (or the threshold you chose): their card shows it in full, they present it at the counter, and the counter starts again.
Everything else (win-back messages to inactive customers, birthday wishes, scheduled promotions) starts from your dashboard, in a few taps or automatically.
I want my card in their pocket →
Paper, shared loyalty app, or Wallet card?
There are three ways to run loyalty today. The differences that matter for a local business:
| Paper card | Shared loyalty app | Wallet card (Fidelyz) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Customer effort | Keep the cardboard on you | Download an app, create an account | Scan a QR code, once |
| Lost cards | Most never come back | App uninstalled = customer lost | Never: the card lives in the Wallet |
| Your brand | Your cardboard | One logo among your competitors | Your card, in your name, no neighbors |
| Customer list | None | Belongs to the platform | Yours, one-click CSV export |
| Talking to your customers | Impossible | Through the platform, often paid | Unlimited notifications, included |
| Cost | Printing + lost stamps + zero data | Subscription + commissions, depending on the vendor | One all-inclusive yearly price, locked for life at the launch rate |
I choose the card in my own name →
How much it costs
With Fidelyz, the pricing is deliberately simple: one yearly price, everything included, billed in CHF — and a launch price reserved for the first 150 merchants, locked for life. Two plans: Pro at ≈$797/year (unlimited customer cards, push campaigns, automatic win-back, advanced stats, checkout QR, dashboard and exportable customer list) and Business at ≈$1,028/year (multi-location, unlimited team), detailed on the pricing page — and for larger groups (four locations and up), a custom quote. Every plan starts with a 14-day free trial so you can judge for yourself. No cost per notification, no hardware.
And cardboard is not free either: between printing, the ink stamp and, above all, the regulars lost for lack of a reminder, it often costs more than it looks. We ran the full calculation on the home page.
How to choose your solution
Four questions to ask before you sign, whoever the vendor is:
- Do my customers have to download anything? Every download cuts adoption. The native Wallet always wins that match: zero app to download. And if you are offered a shared app, read shared app or Fidelyz first.
- Do I own the customer list, contractually? If the answer is vague, your customers belong to the platform. At Fidelyz, the hand-back is written in black and white, one-click CSV export.
- Is there a hidden commitment? Beware of exit fees and vague terms. A clear yearly price, a free trial to judge for yourself and one-click cancellation can be explained in a single line.
- Is it built for my trade? A restaurant does not build loyalty like a hair salon. See our dedicated pages: restaurant & café, hair & barbershop, beauty & salon.
The simplest step is to try it: add the demo card to your own Wallet — it is exactly what your customers will experience. And if you are coming from cardboard, we wrote a guide on how to replace the paper stamp card without losing your regulars.