Michal Ždanský Loyalty cards are something that merchants like to give us and offer us various discounts and bonuses through them, however, as the number increases, they quickly start to inflate our wallet. At a time when everything is going digital and we can solve many things from a smartphone, loyalty cards, which usually only carry a barcode, are a relic.
In the App Store you will find several applications that solve this problem. Digital stores of loyalty cards are becoming more and more popular, and merchants are also responding to this, slowly replacing laser scanners with optical ones that can easily read a barcode from a display. For the Czech Republic, you can find three applications for this purpose - Cardless+, Purse and foreign Fidme, in which the support of the Czech Republic and Czech is not missing. Of course, you can find more foreign applications in the App Store, for example Key ring or Fidall, however, despite the possibility to add your own cards, they are unusable for the Czech Republic and contain a lot of unnecessary functions that you will not use in our region (shop offers, discount coupons, etc.).
Cardless+
The first application in our comparison is Cardless+ from the company Beevendo, which has been cooperating with merchants for a long time and offers them a digital connection of services. There is no need to create an account to use it like in other applications, you just fill in your gender, year of birth and your interests, according to which Cardless+ can then offer you events. Adding a loyalty card is quite simple.
In the main menu, first select Cards, click the "+" button and select a merchant from the list. The Czech offer is quite extensive, you will find over 150 brands, from A3 Sport to Yves Rocher. If you still can't find your store, another card can be added. With the Cardless+ partners on the list, however, you are sure to succeed with a digital barcode at the reader.
Cardless+ can use the camera to scan the card number, but it can also be entered manually or a wrong number can be corrected. Finally, you fill in the card number (optional) and you can also change the image of the card by taking a photo of it. Unfortunately, it is not possible to select an image from the library.
Loyalty cards then appear in the card menu as icons, when opened a large barcode is displayed, which can be enlarged to full screen by clicking on it. If you have chosen a card from the available menu, you will also find a description of how the loyalty card works here. Finally, there is a list of stores that the app will display based on proximity to your location.
In addition to cards, the application can also search for shops in the vicinity, either all from the menu or according to your cards or preferences. In the application, you can also search for the nearest stores by keyword. In fact, Cardless+ contains a list of most shops in the Czech Republic, including navigation to them, so it can also function as a separate navigator for shops. In addition, the application also works on an international level and will offer a large number of shops, including loyalty cards and navigation even beyond the borders of our country. Another interesting function is the display of current promotions from selected stores, which you can again have displayed according to the preferences you selected at launch (they can be changed at any time in the settings).
As for the UI, it's quite intuitive and functional, but it could use a little more care. The gray background looks rather dull and cold and doesn't really go hand in hand with the new design direction of iOS 7. Not that there are any signs of skeuomorphism, but there's just something missing from an aesthetic point of view.
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/cardless+/id547622330?mt=8″]
Purse
The Wallet application from Mladá Fronta was the first application of its kind on the Czech market and was the first impulse for merchants to use optical scanners instead of laser scanners. However, not much has changed in the app since its debut.
Adding a card is as simple as in the case of Cardless+, you select cards from the main menu, the "+" button displays a list of supported stores for which cards can be added. However, there are significantly fewer of them, Portomonka only displays partner stores, of which there are sixteen. When you add your own card, it will offer a few hundred stores in the name whisperer, but then you will only have a card with a generic inscription, without a logo, in the list. However, the service has a comprehensive database and can search for the nearest branches in the offer of these stores Trades in card detail. Like Cardless+, it can show a store on a map, show opening hours or a phone number.
you can use it when shopping at the merchant in question. You activate each coupon with a button, then a code will appear on the screen, which must be shown to the salesperson for redemption. The coupon menu currently includes, for example, stores Husky, Klenoty Aurum or Hervis. As with cards, it is possible to display the nearest branches.
Finally, it is possible to sign up for membership in some partner stores directly from the phone from the application. The application itself looks quite outdated with its graphics. The quilted skin is something we're glad we got rid of in iOS 7. It looks a bit like the Find My Friends app before the redesign. Let's hope that Mladá Fronta will make a more significant revision of the appearance, because the skin already looks quite ridiculous on the iPhone.
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/portmonka/id492790417?mt=8″]
Fidme
The last application in our comparison is the foreign application FidMe, which not only supports Czech stores, but is also localized in the Czech language. Immediately after launch, the application will ask you for mandatory registration, which will cheekily ask for not only your email, but also your phone number or date of birth, all fields must be filled.
In FidMe, in addition to loyalty cards, you will also find stamp cards, which is a matter that does not apply to our country and you will not find any item in it for your location. The list of loyalty cards is relatively poor, it contains only about 20 items, among which you can find, for example, Tesco, Teta drug store or Shell, but many other stores are missing here and you need to create your own. Fortunately, at least you can add a logo from the library to the cards. In addition to barcodes, FidMe offers the addition of a QR code or customer number.
As expected, there is a complete lack of a list of almost any other local service, such as an offer of discount coupons. The application adds some kind of FidMe points, but you won't use them with us.
Overall, the user interface is rather confusing and unintuitive, you have to switch between loyalty cards and stamp cards in the main menu to add a specific card with the "+" button, and the very strange design that didn't even make it to iOS 7 doesn't save it either themes that are similarly skeuomorphic as in the case of Purse.
[app url=”https://itunes.apple.com/cz/app/fidme-loyalty-cards/id391329324?mt=8″]
záver
Applications for saving loyalty cards intended for the Czech Republic are currently scarce, users abroad enjoy a much larger number, but it is still possible to choose. Probably the worst choice of all three options is FidMe, which, despite supporting our country and language, lacks the basic advantages of this category of mobile software and offers only a small number of shops, and it also contains a lot of unnecessary functions for us and is not very user-friendly.
So you will probably end up choosing between Portmonka and Cardless+. Both apps would benefit from an iOS-style redesign, but Cardless+ already looks better without that fake stitched leather, while Pursemonka, on the other hand, will offer a slightly more sophisticated UI. Both applications can easily display the nearest stores and there are several hundreds of stores in their database, however Portmonka prefers partner stores, where it guarantees support for the digital storage of loyalty cards, and compared to Cardless+, it has significantly fewer of them. Likewise, both applications also offer unique offers through coupons.
Each of the applications has something in it and you won't go wrong with any of them, in any case, all three compared applications are free, so you can easily choose which suits you best. Loyalty cards can also be uploaded to Passbook in a roundabout way, but this is a rather lengthy process, a dedicated application will serve you much better.
How relative is that... I myself stayed with 7.(?) due to the iOS6.1.4 design change. Personally, looking at sevens makes my hair stand on end. I don't like colored pencils, I prefer the old style reflecting different materials. Anyway, good and informative article – thanks for it!
I thought so too, then I tried iOS 7 and wouldn't go back.
Lots of cool new features like the bottom slide out bar.
The design is light, fresh.
Try :-)
That's right, it's the bomb, I love minimalism and flat design !!!
Functions could be added without changing the direction of the design. I have iOS 7 but I personally miss skeumorphism….
I would also prefer the older look a hundred times. It has nothing to do with new features at all. The natural look of icons and apps was the way to go - they feel natural to the user if they resemble common and natural things. This simplistic flat design is a nice hummus.
After all, it's useless, there are only laser readers everywhere and the saleswoman will send you to hell with something like that (hell)... It's really not worth the trouble, those applications are slightly timeless, so in 10 years :D
You could also take Thin Wallet to the test.
The problem with these applications in our country is that most stores have old readers that do not read it from the display (sometimes magnification and full backlight will help). This is typical for Tesco, for example, luckily I don't go during peak hours, so the saleswomen are always quite willing to type it in manually. I discussed it with the author of the "original" Purse (before it was under MF) via email. It's just that as long as there are old types of readers in stores, not much can be done about it.
I use mobilepocket. A more modern interface and they are very flexible in supporting Czech stores. https://itunes.apple.com/app/mobile-pocket/id384619059
I also use mobile-pocket and I am satisfied, especially with the synchronization within the whole family and the overall appearance of the application. I just don't think this app has anything to fit in here - online redeemable coupons like I've seen in Portmone. I only have what I keep there myself. But this application won for me, I can recommend it.