In my last post, where I detailed my EDC, I mentioned that I didn’t really have much in my wallet other than my debit cards and a few loyalty cards, which prompted the question in my mind: I have my debit card setup on Apple Pay, why not my loyalty cards as well? In a pinch if I forget my wallet at least I can still use them! Well… apparently this isn’t doable by default – Enter Stocard!
So if you don’t want to check my EDC post (although I do recommend it!), I said:
“I don’t keep much in there: recent receipts, my debit cards, my driving licence, a couple of loyalty cards, a Tesco Clubcard, a myWaitrose card and a Costco members card.” Me in my EDC post
Most of these cards are simple barcode, keyring style loyalty cards and because I keep my keyring for keys and my tools – I don’t put these loyalty cards on there! Not only that, but I think they’re horrific to look at!
Back on point – being barcodes, the thought popped into my mind once again: Why can I not have these on my phone, rather than taking up (clearly) very valuable wallet space? The first option, of course, is to take a picture of each card and stick them in their own album. This is pretty low-tech though and there’s now things like Apple Pay or Google Pay.
Whip open Apple Pay and get started adding a “pass”, where it specifically mentions: “Keep your boarding passes, cinema tickets, retail coupons and loyalty cards in one place.” and you’ll find that, for whatever reason, the loyalty cards will not add. It seems that Apple Pay only supports certain loyalty cards at this point in time? This initially disappointed me, but I refused to give up! Short of making me a cup of tea, I expect my high-end, powerful and incredibly expensive smartphone to do everything I need it to do. If it can pay for the things I buy, it will at least allow me to reap the rewards from all of those many, many sub £30 purchases!
A quick bit of research and I’m clearly not the only one in this boat. My search lead me to Stocard, an app designed to physically thin out a wallet or declutter that keyring, by retaining a digital copy of your store/loyalty cards and allowing you to always boost those points no matter what! Stocard claim to have over 15 million users, which is an impressive feat on its own.
Table of Contents
The Stocard app
Stocard was incredibly simple to setup. Download and install the app (iOS/Android), open the app and start scanning your cards! There’s no need for you to log in, but you can connect the app to a Facebook or Google account to backup your cards. If you then delete the app, or wipe your phone – you’ll be able to recover your scanned cards exactly as they were beforehand!
The user interface is clean and mind-blowingly simple to use. Referring to the iOS version (as my current phone is an iPhone), scanning your cards is as simple as pressing the + at the top of the screen, searching for the “brand” of your card and then holding the card within the scan window shown on screen. If your card isn’t yet in the search options, you can enter it manually – but know that Stocard are constantly adding new cards and it’s likely the one you’re trying to add is on its way! The remainder of the app is a simple 3 tab interface. The first tab contains your cards, the second contains your offers (more on this in a bit) and the third tab contains your settings.
Your cards are displayed as “tiles” in two columns, with the brand name being the “image” for the card. This makes finding the card you need to use quick and easy, as you can see in the above screenshot (excuse the American brands!).
Tap into each card and the majority of the screen is taken up by the barcode – making it effectively foolproof to use!
Getting your cards into Apple Pay/the Wallet app
So… this is just an app? We’re pretty much at the “low-tech” point I mentioned previously – granted I haven’t simply taken photos of each card, but I may as well have?
On the most part (and at this point), I would’ve been agreeing with you – but there’s a special hidden feature built into the sharing options within Stocard. I didn’t notice this straight off the bat – simply because I’ve no need to share my loyalty cards, however after a quick Google, if you enter into each card and hit “Share Card” at the bottom of the screen, you’ll see an option to “Add to Apple Wallet”. Tap this, enter your wallet app et. voila! All of your cards and passes, whether they’re loyalty, debit or travel related – they can all be in one place!
More about “Offers”
I haven’t forgotten! There is a tab within the app for “Offers”. This isn’t necessarily relevant to every single card you can/will add to the app, but the section will tailor itself entirely to:
- The cards you add to the app
- The cards you add that have “Offers” functionality
I have a couple of cards that have offers functionality and in all honesty, there are very few offers that come through. Both my Boots card and my Nectar card currently have offers – between them there are 3.
I doubt I’ll find myself using this section much (unless there are points boosters!) and will likely wholly rely on the paper-based vouchers I get through in the post #oldschool!
Summary
Overall, I’m happy to have found Stocard. I can head into a shop with only my phone, where I know I’ll be spending less than £30! I’ll continue to carry my wallet with me everywhere I go though – regardless of the “digital wallet” trend. My phone will likely never replace my wallet, even if the tap-to-pay limit was removed as there’s something satisfying about having a solid, well built wallet available to hand. They’re not just a functional accessory, they’re also a fashion accessory.
Stocard is an incredibly well built app, that I’ll recommend to anyone that partakes in digitising their wallet. The significantly reduced weight and bulk in my back pocket, from my wallet is definitely welcomed and a benefit in it’s own!
