I'm pitching a special membership card idea at work. But is it possible?

August 14, 2015 9:29 PM

You guys are always great at helping me to understand technological possibilities... and I need your help again. I am trying to brainstorm a project that would involve a scannable card that could be custom loaded with admission fees and dollar credits for various places...

Basically, the idea is that someone walks in, selects a customized itinerary of places around town, pays a flat fee and we would load everything they need conveniently onto the card. Then they'd go to the museum/vendor/restaurants and just have the card scanned and not worry about money exchange.

1. Is this possible? Easy?
2. It needs to be something the average business can scan and recognize. Is there any special equipment needed to fill or read a card like this?
3. Do you know of a reputable vendor who produces these cards that you would recommend? I'm in LA but if they're good and reasonably priced they don't have to be local.

Thanks in advance for your help! :)

posted by miss lynnster to Technology (9 answers total)

Response by poster: I know that doing a membership card for one place is easy... or a basic discount card. This seems a little fancier, I guess.
posted by miss lynnster at 9:30 PM on August 14, 2015 [1 favorite]

This sounds like a better idea for a web app, not a physical card. That way you can include all kinds of details like clickable addresses for navigation, hours of business, etc., and there's nothing to return or lose track of, just text them a QR code they can pull up at each destination.

It needs to be something the average business can scan and recognize.

The scanning part is relatively easy; you mostly just need a scanner or phone app that can read a bar or QR code and validate it against your server. Getting the money tracking part is harder to do - most places are going to want something that integrates with their point of sales system, and there's a myriad of them out there. I would caution you to think hard on the value proposition that you're offering to both consumers and businesses. I'm not seeing a huge win for either side right now and several downsides.
posted by Candleman at 12:11 AM on August 15, 2015

Response by poster: @Candleman - "I would caution you to think hard on the value proposition that you're offering to both consumers and businesses. I'm not seeing a huge win for either side right now and several downsides."

Huh. Well, I wasn't really asking that. Working in tourism I'm pretty clear on the process of itinerary markups, and besides this being a non-profit with funding coming from angel investors, I'm pretty clear on how profit is raised by utilizing close cross promotional relationships with vendors that include discounts/donations. That said, you have me curious about what exactly you are talking about and where you're coming from... I'm always open to learning new stuff and considering other perspectives, so I'll bite... I was asking a logistical question but your negativity on it is palpable... so please elaborate on why you think it's so horrible.

And if I may ask, what is your expertise that's led you to such a negative outlook on old school tourism itinerary planning? The only thing I'm doing differently is trying to use a card instead of tickets and receipts. And since many people traveling from other countries and cities do not necessarily have local internet access on their phones, I'm trying to do something that will not be dependent upon that. I spent three weeks in Italy and have traveled all over doing research for this and found that very few people were happy with travel apps for long term usage. I heard a lot of complaints about travel apps not working smoothly with their phones.
posted by miss lynnster at 12:29 AM on August 15, 2015

Response by poster: Also, some of my museum vendors have said they REALLY dislike QR codes, I've been hearing pretty constant complaints about them since 2013 and now I don't see much of anyone using them. Do you see something different going on? Have they changed or gotten better?

I am merely looking into these cards as a possible alternative that can be used at point of purchase.
posted by miss lynnster at 12:31 AM on August 15, 2015

This sounds basically like a gift card usable at multiple businesses, sort of halfway between a prepaid credit card and a conventional single-business gift card/store credit. It's also vaguely similar to a prepaid debit card offered to students in a small college town where I used to live; those cards were only accepted by the college itself and participating local businesses. I'd contact the sales department of a company that produces/processes gift cards and ask whether their tech could facilitate what you're hoping to do.

I can see the utility of a prepaid debit card that triggers discounts and only works at particular businesses, but I think it would be problematic to have the card loaded with specific credits and meals (!), which would effectively turn vacation into a to-do list. I'm not in tourism, but I doubt that 'old-school itinerary planning' is nearly so granular.
posted by jon1270 at 3:39 AM on August 15, 2015 [1 favorite]

Sounds like a Go City Card (http://www.smartdestinations.com), plus food. So sure, This is a thing, though I don't know anything about the technical details.
posted by joycehealy at 5:12 AM on August 15, 2015

That sounds like so much fun! Almost like an admission park ticket to your city which would cover all the cool stops! I'm sure that there are companies that would handle this service for you for a hefty fee. If you want to do it in house and your accounting department is up for it, go to each individual location with your proposal and a mock up of the card. Ask them to agree to the discount or free entry to the card holder. You can then set up a system where they either email every transaction or write it down on a sheet and mail it in every month to paid. They would need to write down the member number that is on the card for you to track it. You can even work out a deal where you get a discount for sending them a certain number of people. It's really a fun idea. It's going to take a lot of clear communication, including going in to the businesses regularly to train and re-train the staff.
posted by myselfasme at 8:39 AM on August 15, 2015

While it's marketed towards individual businesses, reading about Belly might give you some ideas.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 8:41 AM on August 15, 2015

Pretty much every city with a lot of tourists already has something like this for museums and other ticketed attractions. People like these cards for the discounts and the ability to skip lines, which can save a vacation in certain cities. I fail to see how this translates to vendors and restaurants, unless you're just offering a % discount on a list of places (in exchange for including them on a map or something), in which case the card wouldn't need to be scannable. Tourists typically don't plan their shopping and dining to the point where they'd prepay money in exchange for credits at those stores/restaurants. Besides, even if you have a dollar credit at a restaurant, you still have to pay for the rest of the meal, so the card doesn't save time or effort.
posted by acidic at 12:27 PM on August 15, 2015