Paper punch cards vs a digital loyalty card

Paper punch cards are cheap and simple, but you keep reprinting them, customers lose them, a look-alike stamp can fill one, and they tell you nothing about your regulars. A digital stamp card lives in your customer's Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, gives one stamp per visit checked at your shop, and shows who your regulars are.

We make Rewardtree, so weigh this page knowing that.

At a glance

Paper stamp cards price	Whatever your printer charges for each print run, plus any rewards claimed on faked cards
Over a year	A reprint every time you run out, and no list of who your regulars are
Rewardtree price	60 days free, no credit card. Then A$9.99 a month per shop, or A$99 a year per shop. That's our end-of-year special for businesses that sign up by 31 December 2026: you keep it for every shop, including shops you add later, for as long as you stay. From 1 January 2027, businesses that sign up pay A$19.99 a month or A$199 a year.

What Paper stamp cards does well

Cheap to start: a box of cards and a rubber stamp.
No technology at the counter: a stamp and ink pad never crash.
No sign-up of any kind: hand a card over, done. Every customer already knows how one works.

Where Rewardtree differs

Lost cards: paper cards get lost, washed and forgotten, and so does the reason to come back. The digital card is on the phone they carry into your shop.
Reprinting: paper means a new print run every time you run out or change the reward. With Rewardtree you print one QR once, and it never changes, even when you change your reward.
Fakes: a look-alike stamp can fill a paper card. A Rewardtree stamp is one per visit, checked against your shop's location (and flagged if it's late at night), and you can see and undo every stamp. It is much harder to fake than paper.
Your regulars: paper tells you nothing. Rewardtree shows each customer's first name and visits on your Customers page.
Cost: paper is cheap. Rewardtree is A$9.99 a month per shop, after 60 days free.

Who should pick which

Pick Paper stamp cards if: You want no screens at all and the lowest possible cost, and you're fine with lost cards, reprints, look-alike stamps and not knowing who your regulars are.

Pick Rewardtree if: You want the same ritual (visit, stamp, reward) without lost, reprinted or faked cards, and you want to know who your regulars are.

Common questions

Are digital loyalty cards better than paper stamp cards?#

For most shops, yes: a digital card doesn't get lost in a wallet or the wash, it updates on the customer's phone, it is much harder to fake, and it shows you who your regulars are. Paper still wins on two things: it costs very little, and there are no screens at all.

What does it cost to switch from paper to digital stamps?#

On Rewardtree, nothing for the first 60 days, and no credit card. Then A$9.99 a month per shop, or A$99 a year per shop. That's our end-of-year special for businesses that sign up by 31 December 2026: you keep it for every shop, including shops you add later, for as long as you stay. From 1 January 2027, businesses that sign up pay A$19.99 a month or A$199 a year. Setup takes a few minutes: your shop's name, your reward in one sentence and your address, then you print the free QR poster.

What do I do with my old paper cards?#

Put your Rewardtree QR by the till. Let regulars finish their old card; from today they collect on Rewardtree. When the last paper cards are used up, you never need to print another.