How to Design a Loyalty Card Customers Actually Keep

A loyalty card that gets lost, bent, or forgotten is a wasted opportunity. To design one customers actually keep, focus on two things: making the reward obvious at a glance and making the card durable enough to survive a wallet or purse. This article covers the practical choices behind a card people hold onto. You will learn how to lay out the card so the free item or discount is the first thing customers see, how to use branding without cluttering the design, and which materials and finishes resist cracking, fading, and peeling. Each section gives you specific decisions you can make before your next print run.

See also: Loyalty Card Template: Layouts for Paper and Wallet Cards · Loyverse Loyalty Alternative for Wallet Cards

Start With a Clear Customer Benefit

A loyalty card that collects dust in a wallet or gets lost under a car seat fails for one simple reason: the customer sees no reason to keep it. The first decision in how to design a loyalty card is not about colours, fonts or card stock. It is about the benefit you offer. If the reward is vague, distant or complicated, the card becomes clutter. If the reward is concrete and easy to understand, the card earns a permanent place in a purse or phone case.

Define the reward in one sentence

A customer should be able to explain your loyalty card to a friend without thinking. For a cafe, that might be “buy nine coffees, get the tenth free.” For a car wash, it could be “wash five times, get the sixth wash half price.” A salon might use “book six appointments, get a free fringe trim or product sample.” The test is simple: if you need more than one sentence to explain the benefit, simplify it.

Avoid points systems that convert to vague “rewards.” A card that says “earn 20 points per visit, redeem 200 points for a mystery gift” asks the customer to do mental arithmetic. Most will not bother. A card that stamps one box per visit and shows exactly how many stamps remain is far easier to keep. The customer sees progress every time.

Match the reward to purchase frequency

A loyalty card only works when the reward feels reachable. A restaurant where most customers visit once a month should not require twelve visits for a free main course. That is a year of waiting. Most diners will lose the card or lose interest. A better structure is “collect five visits, get a free starter or dessert.” The reward arrives within a season, not a year.

A gym or fitness studio has a different rhythm. Members visit several times a week, so a card that rewards attendance can move faster. A punch card for “attend ten classes, get a free guest pass” works because regulars may complete it in two or three weeks. A car wash has a similar pattern for weekly customers: “buy five washes, get the sixth free” is achievable within a month or two.

Think about the slowest realistic customer, not the most loyal one. If a casual visitor needs eight months to earn the reward, the card will not survive. Set the threshold so a typical repeat customer reaches the reward within six to eight weeks. That keeps the card visible and the habit forming.

Make the benefit specific to your business

Generic discounts often feel weak. “10% off your next visit” is forgettable because it sounds like a coupon anyone could get. A specific item or service tied to your business feels more valuable. A bakery could offer “collect seven stamps, get a free loaf of sourdough.” A salon could offer “five visits, free deep-conditioning treatment.” A restaurant could offer “six visits, free house dessert for two.” These rewards feel curated, not mass-produced.

The benefit should also be something customers already want. If a cafe sells mostly takeaway coffee, a free sit-down dessert is less useful than a free coffee. If a car wash’s customers care about speed, a free basic wash beats a discount on a premium detail. Watch what your regulars actually buy and attach the reward to that item or service.

Show the benefit on the card itself

The card should state the reward in plain words on the front. “Buy 9 coffees, get the 10th free” or “6 washes, 7th free” removes all guesswork. If the customer cannot see the reward at a glance, the card fails its main job. Print the benefit in the same size as your logo, not in tiny footer text. A branded loyalty card that hides the reward behind a QR code or a website link asks too much of a busy customer.

The back of the card can carry the terms: one stamp per visit, not valid with other offers, expiry if relevant. But the front is for the promise. When the benefit is clear, specific and close enough to touch, customers will keep the card and remember to use it.

Choose a Card Shape That Fits Wallets

A loyalty card only works if customers carry it. The first test is simple: does it slide into a wallet, purse or phone case without folding, bending or jamming? Many shop owners start with an unusual shape because it looks distinctive on the counter. Then customers leave it at home because it does not fit anywhere.

The standard rectangle — roughly the size of a business card or credit card — remains the safest choice. It fits card slots, coin pockets and receipt compartments. Customers already know where to put it. A card that matches the width and height of a bank card also sits neatly next to payment cards, which means it gets seen every time someone opens their wallet to pay.

Some businesses push for a circle, a star or a product-shaped card. A cafe might want a coffee-cup silhouette. A salon might want a comb shape. These look good in a marketing mock-up, but they create real friction. A circular card rolls around in a purse. A star-shaped card catches on fabric and tears pockets. A comb-shaped card with thin teeth breaks after a few weeks. When the card becomes annoying to carry, the customer stops carrying it. The loyalty programme quietly dies.

If you want some visual interest, change the corners or the finish, not the footprint. Rounded corners make a card easier to slide into a tight wallet slot and less likely to dog-ear. A vertical orientation can stand out while still fitting standard card sleeves. A slightly thicker card stock feels more premium and survives longer in a pocket, but keep the outer dimensions the same as a standard card.

Car washes and gyms face a different problem. Their customers often keep loyalty cards in a glove box, gym bag or keyring rather than a wallet. For these settings, a key tag makes more sense than a wallet card. A small rectangular tag with a hole punched in one corner works well. It hangs on a keyring, sits in a cup holder and survives damp hands. A gym can use the same shape as a standard membership card but add a hole so members can attach it to a training bag zip.

Restaurants and cafes should avoid anything wider than a standard card. A square card might fit a wallet, but it often sticks out of card slots and gets bent. A long, thin bookmark shape looks elegant on a table but disappears inside a handbag. Stick to proportions that match what customers already carry.

Before you order a print run, test the shape yourself. Make a paper mock-up at the exact size. Put it in your own wallet, your coat pocket and your car door pocket. Carry it for a week. If it annoys you once, it will annoy your customers every day. The goal is not a card that looks clever on Instagram. It is a card that stays in the wallet until the next visit.

Balance Branding With Readable Details

A loyalty card that shouts your logo but hides the stamp boxes fails at the counter. Customers need to see their progress in under two seconds. Your brand needs to be visible, but not at the cost of function. The trick is to treat the card as a tool first and a brand asset second.

Start by assigning clear zones on the card. The front can carry your logo, shop name, and a short tagline. The back holds the mechanics: stamp or punch boxes, expiry date if you use one, and any short instruction like "Buy 9 coffees, get the 10th free." If you run a salon, the front might show your logo and a clean line drawing of scissors. The back lists ten small circles for visits, with the tenth circle filled in or marked "free service." This separation keeps the design calm.

Choose a font size that a tired customer can read without glasses. On a standard credit-card-sized loyalty card, the stamp grid should have circles or squares at least 8 millimetres across. Text for instructions should sit around 9 to 10 points, never smaller. A cafe owner once printed "Collect 8 stamps" in a thin, decorative script at 6 points. Customers squinted, asked staff to explain, and some simply left the card in a drawer. Use a plain sans-serif for numbers and rules. Save decorative fonts for the shop name only.

Colour contrast matters more than brand purity. If your brand colours are pale pink and cream, do not print the stamp boxes in cream on a pale pink background. The cashier cannot see where to stamp, and the customer cannot see progress. Instead, keep the background in your brand colour but print the stamp grid in dark charcoal or black. A car wash with a navy and light blue brand can use a navy front with a white logo, then a white back with navy stamp circles. The contrast makes each stamp visible from across the counter.

Limit the number of design elements. A crowded card with flourishes, social media handles, a map, and three phone numbers buries the loyalty mechanic. Pick one contact detail, usually your Instagram handle or phone number. Put it in a corner at a small but legible size. A restaurant loyalty card might show the logo, a small fork icon, and the stamp grid. Nothing else. If you need to list opening hours, put them on a separate business card or the receipt, not the loyalty card.

Test the card under real shop lighting. Print a sample and hold it at arm's length near your till. If you cannot count the remaining stamps at a glance, the design fails. Ask a staff member to stamp it quickly ten times in a row. If the stamp ink smudges on a glossy finish or the boxes are too close together, adjust the layout. A matte or soft-touch laminate usually stamps cleanly and resists wear in a wallet.

Finally, keep the reward clear. The free item or discount should be written in plain words, not hidden in a code. "10th visit free" works better than "Redeem upon completion of cycle." Customers keep cards they understand. Branding draws them in. Readable details make them stay.

Use Visual Progress for Repeat Visits

A loyalty card that shows progress gets used. A plain card with a shop name and a blank grid does not tell the customer what happens next. Visual progress changes that. It gives the customer a reason to pull the card out of their wallet before the next visit.

Show the Goal on the Card

The simplest way to add visual progress is to print the full reward path on the card. A cafe can show ten coffee cup outlines. Each visit stamps one cup. The customer sees seven filled cups and three empty ones. The goal is obvious: three more visits until a free coffee. A car wash can do the same with five car icons. A salon can use six scissor icons for a discount on the next cut. The key is that the empty spaces do the selling. They create a small, visible gap between where the customer is and where the reward sits.

Avoid cards that only show a stamp area with no reward marker. A grid of ten blank boxes tells the customer nothing about what happens at the end. Add a clear label next to the final box: "10th visit free" or "Free smoothie after 8 stamps." The label matters more than the artwork. Customers keep cards that explain the payoff without needing to ask staff.

Make Partial Progress Feel Real

Visual progress works best when the customer can see movement after the first visit. A card with twelve spaces feels slow. A customer with one stamp out of twelve sees a long road ahead. That card often gets forgotten. Instead, break the reward into smaller chunks.

A restaurant can use a five-visit card with a free side on the fifth stamp. A gym can offer a free guest pass after four check-ins. The shorter path gives the customer a quick win. They see three filled boxes and two empty ones. The finish line feels close. This is simple maths: a five-space card fills twice as fast as a ten-space card. The reward can be smaller, but the repeat visits come sooner.

Another option is a double-sided card. One side tracks a small reward, the other tracks a larger one. A bakery can offer a free pastry after five stamps on the front and a free cake after fifteen stamps on the back. The front side fills quickly and keeps the card in use. The back side builds a longer habit.

Use Physical Markers That Change the Card

A stamp or punch changes the card itself. That physical change is the visual progress. But not all stamps are equal. A generic "Thank you" stamp in black ink is easy to ignore. A custom stamp that matches the brand does more work. A juice bar can use a small fruit icon stamp. A bike shop can use a gear-shaped punch. The marker should be distinct enough that the customer notices the card changing after each visit.

Punches work well for durable plastic cards. Stamps work for paper cards. Both create a permanent mark. The customer cannot undo it, and that matters. A half-filled card feels like an open task. Most people want to close open tasks. The visual gap between filled and empty spaces triggers that urge. The card does the reminding, not the shop owner.

One caution: do not make the stamp area too small. Staff need room to stamp cleanly. A crowded grid leads to overlapping marks, which makes progress hard to read. Leave enough space between icons for a clear stamp. A messy card gets thrown away.

Connect the Card to a Specific Time Frame

Visual progress works harder when the customer has a reason to return soon. A card with no expiry date can sit in a drawer for months. The progress is still visible, but the urgency is gone. Add a gentle time limit and print it on the card. "Complete by 31 March" or "Valid for 6 months from first stamp." This does not need to be aggressive. It just gives the empty spaces a deadline.

A cafe can run a seasonal card: "Collect 6 stamps before the end of summer for a free iced drink." The customer sees four filled cups and two empty ones in late August. The deadline makes the next visit feel more likely. The visual gap plus the date creates a reason to act this week, not next month.

The goal is simple: design the card so the customer can see exactly how close they are to the reward. Empty spaces, clear labels, and a visible finish line turn a piece of card into a small progress tracker that customers want to complete.

Pick Materials That Survive Daily Use

A loyalty card that falls apart after two weeks in a wallet or glovebox does not build repeat visits. It builds mild annoyance. The card needs to survive friction against keys, coins, phone cases, damp pockets and the occasional trip through the washing machine. Material choice is the first practical decision.

Start with card thickness and finish

Standard paper business cards are too thin for a loyalty stamp card. They bend, tear at the corners and fade quickly. A card around 16pt to 24pt thick feels more like a credit card and holds up better in a wallet slot. Ask your printer for a soft-touch laminate or a matte UV coating. Both resist scuffs better than a plain uncoated stock.

A matte finish also makes stamping easier. Glossy cards can cause ink from a rubber stamp to smear or bead on the surface, especially in a busy cafe where staff stamp quickly. Matte surfaces absorb stamp ink cleanly. If you use a hole punch system instead of stamps, a thicker card with a laminate edge prevents the punched holes from tearing into each other.

Choose plastic only when the programme justifies it

PVC or polypropylene cards last much longer than paper. They survive water, heat and repeated handling. A car wash that keeps loyalty cards in customers' glove compartments or centre consoles benefits from plastic. The same applies to a gym where members carry a card in a sweaty pocket or gym bag. Plastic cards cost more per unit, so reserve them for programmes with a longer life span, such as a ten-visit coffee card or a salon treatment card that takes months to complete.

For a short-term promotion, such as a six-week summer smoothie challenge, a thick laminated paper card is usually enough. The card only needs to last as long as the campaign.

Test the stamp or punch interaction before printing a large batch

Order a small sample run first. Stamp the sample card with your actual stamp and ink pad. Leave it in a wallet for a few days, then check for smudging or transfer onto other cards. If you use a hole punch, punch a full row and flex the card. Weak paper will tear between holes after the third or fourth punch.

A restaurant that stamps cards at the till should also test how the card behaves when damp. A quick wipe with a damp cloth should not lift the print or warp the card. If the card curls after drying, customers will throw it away before earning the reward.

Match the material to the reward value

A loyalty card is a small contract between you and the customer. If the reward is a free coffee after eight visits, a flimsy paper card still works, but it signals low effort. If the reward is a free haircut or a discounted car detail, the card should feel more substantial. A salon using a thin paper card for a ten-visit programme looks less professional than one using a thick matte card with a clean edge.

The practical rule is simple: the longer the customer has to keep the card, the tougher the material should be. A card that lasts only three weeks cannot build a habit that takes three months.

Simplify the Reward Structure

A loyalty card fails when the customer cannot remember what it does. If the reward takes too long to explain, staff will stop mentioning it and customers will stop carrying it. The simplest structure is one action, one stamp or point, one clear reward. A coffee shop might offer a free drink after nine purchases. A car wash might offer a free basic wash after eight paid washes. The customer sees the finish line immediately.

Avoid tiered systems that require a chart. Silver, gold and platinum levels work for airlines because customers interact with them constantly. A salon client who visits every six weeks will not track three status levels printed on the back of a card. If you want tiers, make the first reward easy to reach and the next reward simply a repeat of the first. For example, every fifth visit earns a free service, and the card resets. That is one rule, not three.

The reward itself should match the purchase pattern. Restaurants often make the mistake of offering a free main course after ten visits. That is expensive, and the customer may bring three friends and order nothing else. A better structure is a free side, dessert or starter after a set number of mains. A gym could offer a free guest pass after twelve check-ins. The reward costs little but feels valuable because it fits the context.

Make the counting visual. A card with ten small circles to stamp is easier to understand than a points system where a coffee equals two points and a sandwich equals five. Points create mental maths. Customers do not want to calculate whether they are halfway to a reward while standing at the till. Stamps or punches remove that friction. If you sell items at very different prices, such as a restaurant with mains and takeaways, use one stamp per visit rather than per item. That keeps the rule simple for both staff and customers.

Write the rule on the card in plain words. "Buy 8 washes, get the 9th free" is better than "Earn rewards with every visit." The second phrase tells the customer nothing. The first tells them exactly when they will receive something. If the card says "Ask staff for details," the design has already failed. The card should be self-explanatory.

Limit the number of cards or programmes in one business. A cafe that runs a coffee card, a breakfast card and a seasonal smoothie card creates confusion. Staff must decide which card to stamp, and customers carry the wrong one. If you sell both products and services, such as a salon that sells retail shampoo, put everything on the same card. A purchase counts as a visit. That keeps the rule to a single sentence.

Finally, test the explanation out loud. If a staff member cannot describe the reward in under ten seconds, simplify it. The goal is a card that a customer glances at once and understands without asking a question. That is the card they keep in a wallet, not the one left in a drawer at home.

Add a Digital Backup Option

A paper loyalty card works only if the customer has it in their wallet at the till. The moment they leave it in another jacket, the glovebox, or the kitchen drawer, the card stops doing its job. A digital backup removes that single point of failure. It does not replace the physical card for customers who prefer it. It simply gives the forgetful customer a second way to collect stamps, and it gives you a second way to recognise them.

The simplest backup is a phone number lookup. The customer gives their number at the till, you type it into your point-of-sale system or a simple spreadsheet, and the stamp or visit is recorded against their name. Next time they come in without the card, they give the same number and the balance appears. For a small cafe or salon, this takes less than ten seconds per transaction. It also lets you spot a customer who has collected eight stamps but never redeemed, so a staff member can mention it next time they visit.

A QR code on the physical card is another low-cost option. Print a unique code on the back of each card. When the customer scans it with their phone camera, it opens a simple mobile page showing their current stamp count and your opening hours. You do not need a full app. A basic web page linked to a spreadsheet or a lightweight loyalty tool is enough. For a car wash or gym, this works well because customers often keep the card in the car or gym bag rather than in a pocket, and the scan takes place at a counter or entrance where a printed sign can explain the process.

Email collection is a third path. Ask for an email address when you issue the card, and send a short confirmation that includes the customer's current balance and a note that they can show the email at the till if they forget the card. A restaurant or salon can use this to send a reminder after a visit, but keep the message practical: "You have 6 of 10 stamps. Show this email next time if your card is at home." No newsletter signup required unless the customer opts in separately.

Whatever backup you choose, make the rules identical to the paper card. A stamp earned digitally must count the same as a stamp on the card, and a free coffee earned digitally must be redeemable without the card present. If you run a cafe and a customer shows a phone screen with six digital stamps, staff should accept it exactly as they would a paper card with six stamps. Inconsistent treatment kills trust faster than having no backup at all.

Train every staff member on the backup process during a quiet shift, not during a Saturday rush. Write the steps on a small card kept next to the till: what to ask for, where to type it, and what to say if the customer's details are not found. A salon receptionist, for example, should know to say "I can't find that number, but I can start a new card for you today and merge them later if we locate the old one." That keeps the interaction moving and the customer feeling looked after.

A digital backup also protects you when a customer loses a nearly full card. If you have their phone number or email linked to the card, you can check the last recorded balance and reissue a replacement card with the same stamps. Without a backup, the customer starts from zero, and many will simply not bother. For a small business, retaining one regular customer through that moment is worth more than the cost of the extra stamps.

Test Legibility at a Glance

A loyalty card fails the moment a customer squints at it. Legibility is not about making the card pretty. It is about making the next step obvious in under two seconds. A customer at a busy cafe counter has a wallet in one hand and a coffee in the other. If your card forces them to stop and study it, they will shove it in a pocket and forget it exists.

Start with the stamp or punch area. The boxes, circles, or icons that track progress need to be large enough to see from arm's length. A common mistake is shrinking the grid to fit more decorative elements. If a customer cannot tell whether they have six or seven stamps, the card creates confusion instead of motivation. Use thick, high-contrast outlines for empty spaces. A filled stamp should be unmistakable at a glance, even in dim salon lighting or under a car wash counter's fluorescent glare.

Font size matters more than font style. The card number, reward threshold, and business name should be readable without glasses. For a restaurant loyalty card, the phrase "Buy 9, Get 1 Free" should be legible when the card sits on a table. Test this by printing a sample, placing it on a counter, and standing where a customer would stand. If you lean in, the text is too small. Aim for a minimum of 10-point type for essential information, but 12-point or larger is safer for older customers and anyone in a hurry.

Contrast is the second legibility pillar. Light grey text on a white background looks elegant in a design file and disappears in real life. A branded loyalty card for a gym or salon often uses soft pastels or muted tones. Those can work, but only if the critical elements, such as the stamp boxes and reward text, use a dark, saturated colour. Black or deep navy on white or cream is the most reliable combination. If your brand colours are light, add a solid white or dark panel behind the progress grid.

The back of the card is where legibility often dies. Phone numbers, addresses, social handles, and terms and conditions get crammed into a tiny space. Cut anything that does not help a customer use the card. A customer does not need your full menu or service list on the card. They need to know what the reward is, how many visits it takes, and how to reach you if the card is lost. If you must include terms, use a single short line such as "One stamp per visit. Not valid with other offers." Anything longer belongs on your website or a sign at the till.

Real-world testing reveals problems that screen previews hide. Print five cards at the actual size, hand them to staff, and ask them to read the reward line from across the counter. Then ask a customer who has never seen the card to explain what they get and how many visits it takes. If they hesitate, simplify. A loyalty card is a tool, not a brochure. Every element that competes with the core message, whether a decorative border, a logo too large for the space, or a background pattern, makes the card less likely to be kept and used.

Avoid Clutter With a Single Focal Point

A loyalty card has one job: get stamped, punched, or scanned, then live in a wallet or purse until the next visit. When the design tries to do too much, that job gets harder. The customer glances at the card, cannot tell where to look, and it ends up in a drawer or the bin.

Pick one element that earns the space

Choose a single focal point before adding anything else. For a cafe, that might be a large coffee cup icon with a clear ring of ten stamp circles around it. For a salon, it could be the business name in bold type with a simple scissors mark and a row of five boxes for visits. For a car wash, a bold number “6” works well when the offer is “buy five washes, get the sixth free.”

Everything else on the card should support that focal point, not compete with it. If the logo is the focal point, keep the stamp grid small and place it lower on the card. If the reward is the focal point, make the “Buy 9 get 1 free” line the largest text and shrink the logo.

A common mistake is giving equal visual weight to the logo, the tagline, the social media handle, the stamp boxes, and a photo of the shopfront. The result is a busy rectangle that customers read once and forget. A card with one clear focal point is easier to remember because the eye lands on the same spot every time.

Real examples of one-focus cards

A gym can design a card where the only large element is a bold “10” inside a circle, with “sessions” printed beneath it. The member sees the goal immediately: attend ten sessions, get a reward. The gym name sits small at the top, and the stamp boxes run along the bottom edge.

A restaurant can use a punch card where the focal point is a single plate icon in the centre. The plate is divided into eight segments, and each segment is punched after a meal. No extra illustrations, no menu photos, no chef portrait. The plate tells the whole story.

A nail salon can put the customer’s name in large script at the top, with five small polish bottle icons underneath. The personal touch is the focal point. The client feels the card is theirs, not just another generic loyalty card from the counter.

What to remove

Before printing, look at the card and ask what can be deleted. Most cards can lose the website address if the business name is already there. They can lose the full street address if the customer already visits the shop. They can lose the opening hours if those are on the door, the receipt, or Google.

A loyalty card is not a brochure. It does not need to list every service. A cafe card does not need “coffee, tea, cakes, sandwiches, soups” printed on it. The customer already knows what the shop sells. The card only needs to remind them to come back.

White space is part of the design

Leave breathing room around the focal point. A card with a large coffee cup and nothing else around it looks more professional than a card with a coffee cup, steam lines, beans, a border, a QR code, and a tagline. The empty space tells the customer where to look.

A practical test: hold the card at arm’s length. If you cannot identify the focal point in one second, the design is too busy. A customer at the till will give the card even less attention than that.

How PassHive handles this

Full disclosure: this site is published by the team that builds PassHive, so we know exactly what goes into a loyalty card that stays in a customer’s wallet. The design principles in this article are not theory. They are the same decisions we built into PassHive, and the same choices you make when you set up a card.

PassHive lets you issue your own branded loyalty cards that customers save to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. No app download. You design the card, preview it on iPhone and Android for free, and only pay when you go live. That free preview matters because it forces the design to work on both platforms before you commit.

The card itself shows your shop’s name, colour and logo. That is the whole front of the card. There is no PassHive branding on it, because a card with someone else’s logo is a card people delete. When a customer earns a stamp or points, the card updates itself on their phone. The next time they look at their wallet, the balance has changed. That quiet update is what keeps the card in the wallet instead of in a drawer.

PassHive supports two card types: a stamp or visit card (for example, buy 9 coffees and get the 10th free) and a points card. Both follow the same design rule: the reward must be visible at a glance. The card shows the shop name, the current progress, and the reward. Nothing else.

Two features help the card get used without you having to say a word. Push notifications can be sent to saved cards, such as a reminder that a reward is ready or a quiet offer on a slow Tuesday. Location-based reminders can also appear on the lock screen near your shop. Apple supports up to 10 locations per card, each with a radius of about 200 metres. Google uses its own merchant location data. The phone decides when to show the reminder, so phrase this as “can remind,” not “will remind.” Used sparingly, these nudges turn a saved card into a repeat visit.

A single shop pays $10 per month. A group with up to 100 branches pays $100 per month. Yearly billing gives two months free. You can turn any branch off at any time, and its cards stop at once. That matters if you close a location or pause a promotion.

For comparison, PassKit charges from $39.50 per month and includes 250 passes, then adds per-pass fees after that. A cafe with 1,000 customers would pay roughly $73 per month on PassKit. The same cafe on PassHive pays $10. At 10,000 customers, PassKit works out to about $341 per month; PassHive stays at $10. You can check those numbers on the PassKit pricing page and the PassHive pricing page.

If you want to try the design process yourself, you can start designing your card free. You will see the card on both phone platforms before you pay. When you are ready to compare plans, see PassHive pricing.

PassHive is a flat monthly plan for the whole business, not a fee per branch. The plan sets the maximum number of active branches you can run: $10 a month for up to 100 branches, $25 for up to 275, $50 for up to 600 and $100 for up to 1,250. Yearly billing gives two months free ($100, $250, $500 or $1,000 a year). A cafe with one branch pays $10 a month in total, whatever the number of cards or customers. That is what "pay for your branches, not your customers" means: the plan size follows how many branches you run, never how many people save your card.