The digital loyalty card your customers already pay with
A digital loyalty card tracks a customer's stamps or points without paper. With Zeal, it is the card they already pay with: your card machine recognises it and adds stamps during the payment. No app, no QR code, no plastic.
With Zeal, your card machine reads the loyalty card too
Zeal is live today on supported models from Worldpay, Elavon, Adyen, Lloyds Cardnet, Viva Wallet, DNA Payments and NMI. We check yours before anything changes.
What is a digital loyalty card?
A digital loyalty card does the job of a paper stamp card without the paper. It counts visits or points electronically, so there is nothing to print, hand out or lose. You may also see them called digital punch cards, digital stamp cards or electronic loyalty cards.
Many digital loyalty cards live on the customer's phone. They might be a pass in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, a QR code or a card inside an app. The customer usually has to open the pass or app, or show a code, before paying.
Zeal removes that step. The card they pay with is the loyalty card, so once a customer has signed up, collecting happens in the same tap as paying.
In a busy shop, the difference shows in the queue. Nobody has to stop to find a pass or open an app.
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Stamps still show, on the screen and the receipt
Going digital doesn't hide anyone's progress. Each time a customer pays, the screen shows how many stamps they have and how close the reward is.
The receipt can print it too. Zeal's demo receipt (an illustrative example) prints the stamp count, such as 8 of 10 stamps, under the total. Receipts can also carry an offer in your own branding, and your branding can appear on the screen too.
Zeal runs stamps or points. Pick stamps if customers buy much the same thing each visit, like a morning coffee. Pick points if what they spend changes a lot from one visit to the next.
See which stamps turn into return visits
A paper card tells you nothing once it leaves the shop. A digital loyalty card run through Zeal reports back. Its stamps come from real card payments, not an ink stamp anyone can borrow.
Your Zeal dashboard shows how many customers are new, how many come back and how often. It also flags regulars who have drifted away.
Print an offer on the receipt and Zeal counts each one that comes back. You can compare offers handed out with offers used on paid visits.
One honest limit: cash payments can't earn stamps. Cards were used for 64% of all UK payments in 2025 and cash for 8%, according to UK Finance. If you take a lot of cash, fewer customers will collect.
Paper, phone or payment card: three kinds of loyalty card
- Paper stamp card. Cheap to start and familiar. Staff stamp it by hand, customers have to carry it, and it tells you nothing about who uses it.
- Wallet pass or loyalty card app. No paper, and you can send messages to customers' phones. It usually adds a step for the customer before they pay.
- Payment card with Zeal. Nothing extra to carry or show. Stamps or points are added as the customer pays, and results appear in your Zeal dashboard. It works only for card payments on a supported machine.
The right choice comes down to how your customers pay. If most pay by card on a supported machine, Zeal means nothing extra for them to carry or show. If many pay in cash, a paper card or an app will reach people Zeal can't.
Questions to ask before you choose
- What does the customer have to do on each visit?
- Does it work on the card machine you already have, or does it need new kit?
- What will you learn about your regulars, and can you export it?
- What does it cost each month, and for each shop?
One card does the paying and the collecting
30,000+ merchants activated
Explore more ways to reward customers
Go further with the machine you already have.
Card machine loyalty
See recognition, rewards and branded receipts on a supported card machine. Learn more
Stamps or points
Set up a stamp card or a points scheme and decide what each reward is. Learn more
Effortless loyalty
Why loyalty with no loyalty card, app or QR code keeps the queue moving. Learn more
Bring your existing programme
Already run a loyalty programme? We can connect your existing loyalty programme to card payments once we have checked how it works. Learn more
How a digital stamp card works with Zeal
Illustrative example. A coffee shop sets a reward at ten stamps. Here is one regular's journey.
- Sign-up. The customer pays by card and joins on screen. Nothing to download, nothing to carry.
- Each visit after that. They pay with the same card. Zeal recognises it and adds a stamp during the payment. Staff do nothing different.
- Visit eight. The screen shows their progress, and the receipt prints 8 of 10 stamps.
- Ten stamps. The card is full and the customer has earned the reward you set.
Moving from paper stamp cards
- Decide what happens to old cards. You could honour paper cards for a few weeks while regulars switch over.
- Keep the same reward. Regulars shouldn't feel they have lost something in the move.
- Put up a sign. A short note by the card machine tells customers they now collect when they pay by card.
- Give staff one line. Something like: sign up on the screen once, then pay as normal to collect.
Digital loyalty cards
Frequently asked questions
What is a digital loyalty card?
A digital loyalty card keeps count of a customer's stamps or points without paper. It can be a wallet pass, a card in an app or, with Zeal, the card the customer pays with.
Do customers need a loyalty card app or a wallet pass with Zeal?
No. With Zeal there is no loyalty card app or pass to install. Customers see their stamps on the card machine screen as they pay, and receipts can print them too.
What if a customer pays with their phone?
It depends on your card machine provider. Ask us to check yours.
How do I set up a digital loyalty card with Zeal?
Start by sending Zeal three details: your card machine model, your provider and your number of shops. We then check it can run Zeal. Zeal begins recognising returning cards from the day it is switched on. A month later, it proposes a stamps or points programme based on how your customers actually pay.
Which card machines can run a Zeal digital loyalty card?
Zeal's digital loyalty card runs on supported models from Worldpay, Lloyds Cardnet, Elavon, Adyen, Viva Wallet, DNA Payments and NMI. If your provider is Barclaycard, Clover, Dojo, Global Payments, takepayments or Tyl by NatWest, Join the Waitlist. Zeal can't be added to Square, SumUp, Zettle, Stripe Terminal or Teya machines, so those businesses would need a supported provider.
How much does a Zeal digital loyalty card cost?
Zeal doesn't publish one price. Your quote is based on who provides your card machine and how many shops you run, and there are no cards to print. Talk to us for yours.
About this page
Written by the Zeal team, October 2026
Sources
- Digital payments continue to grow as mobile wallets become more popular across the UK, UK Finance, 19 August 2026
- Juniper Research: Future Digital Award Winners Announced for Fintech & Payments 2023, Juniper Research via Business Wire, October 2023
Sources checked on 22 October 2026.
Start rewarding the card your customers already carry
Check whether your machine can run Zeal, and see how stamps would look on your screen and receipts.
Awarded Juniper Research Platinum, POS Innovation.