Plastic discount cards have been living in our wallets for a long time. Almost every store has its own cards for regular customers. The number of cards is increasing, they do not fit into a wallet, they are lost, spoiled, forgotten... The solution to this problem is a “virtual card”. Like regular plastic cards, virtual cards also had their own evolution.
An expensive option is a separate mobile application that provides information about one service or product provider, which can:
Budget option - Mobile application "catalogue", for several virtual cards. For example, the most popular applications of this type in Russia are “Cartmone”, “Loyalty Factory”, “Discount Mobile”. A virtual card catalog application is much cheaper than a separate mobile application with the services of one company. But, the catalog application has a huge drawback. In fact, it does not contain “virtual cards”, but already familiar pictures with a QR code. To which two more picture options are added. A picture with information about services + the ability to subscribe to SMS newsletters.
We will not consider this type of virtual cards, like other bank payment virtual cards, in detail, since their use in discount projects is unlikely.
Problem number one is the limited number of simultaneous users of the NFC chip. At the moment (2014) there can be no more than ten. If we roughly divide the functionality of the chip into several categories (payment card, transport card, identification card, parking card, retail chain card). There are from 3 to 7 free places left for discount projects. Having all the cards at once will not work, you will have to make a choice.
The second problem is mobile applications. The high cost of developing and technically supporting mobile applications will make it impossible for small and medium-sized businesses to use virtual smart cards.
The third problem is the complete absence of regulations and laws governing this area. In principle, with the help of such a card you can conduct all payments with your clients “over the counter” for your own currency, which will be stored on “your” card. This hole in the legislation will only be closed when virtual smart cards become widespread.
Fourth, it is necessary to integrate Western technologies developed by APPLE into our systems.
And the most important problem is that there are negligibly few smartphone users in our country who are aware of all its possible functions. It is impossible to talk about this technology without making reservations about its bright future and dark present.
(c) https://card-online.ru/articles
Virtual discount card - what is it? Opportunities and disadvantages.
Plastic discount cards have been living in our wallets for a long time. Almost every store has its own cards for regular customers. The number of cards is increasing, they do not fit into a wallet, they are lost, spoiled, forgotten... The solution to this problem is a “virtual card”. Like regular cards, virtual cards also had their own evolution, from reading a picture with a promotional code to a full-fledged high-tech virtual smart card. We will consider this branch of development.Pictures with a QR code barcode
The first virtual discount card was promotional pictures with a barcode or QR code. The picture was downloaded into the phone’s memory and presented to the cashier or waiter. The reader deciphered the code and provided the client with the appropriate discount or service. Such a “card” could be downloaded via the network, received in an advertising mailing, or downloaded in a sales area via Bluetooth. But the card was not widely used, despite its simplicity and cheapness. Initially, the problem was that not all scanners could read the code on the glowing screen; sometimes the picture was offered to be printed. Over time, the problem was solved. But no one made virtual maps as separate pictures anymore.Activation of the bonus program on the website
The second type of virtual card is activation of the bonus program on the website. Along with a regular discount card, the client is given a login and password to activate an account on your website, where in his personal account he can track his bonuses, purchases, and answer your questions. Such a program can only be called a virtual card indirectly. It's more of a marketing ploy. Which also has one significant drawback - if your site is imperfect, you will lose a client.Mobile applications
The next type of discount virtual card is mobile applications. At the moment, this is the most common way to create a virtual card. A small application program in the phone’s memory integrated into an Internet site, which, in addition to providing a discount, may have several other useful functions. Discount mobile apps are mainly divided into two types.An expensive option is a separate mobile application that provides information about one service or product provider, which can:
- Provide any amount of additional information about your company’s products, services, promotions.
- Have feedback via the submitted form. A client interested in your services can provide you with information about his attitude towards your product and his purchasing activity.
- In principle, it can have geolocation activation. That is, remind the client that he is located near your store.
Budget option - Mobile application "catalogue", for several virtual cards. For example, the most popular applications of this type in Russia are “Cartmone”, “Loyalty Factory”, “Discount Mobile”. A virtual card catalog application is much cheaper than a separate mobile application with the services of one company. But, the catalog application has a huge drawback. In fact, it does not contain “virtual cards”, but already familiar pictures with a QR code. To which two more picture options are added. A picture with information about services + the ability to subscribe to SMS newsletters.
Cards for online payments
Another type of virtual card is a card for network payments - a special bank payment card designed for payments on the Internet. It represents bank card details necessary for making payments on Internet sites. Such a virtual card, as a rule, is issued without a physical medium, only in electronic form. However, the issuing bank can produce plastic cards for clients with virtual card details printed on them. Such cards lack some attributes of conventional bank cards: a magnetic stripe or chip, a hologram, and the holder’s signature. This does not allow you to use virtual cards to pay for purchases in brick-and-mortar stores or to withdraw cash from an ATM.We will not consider this type of virtual cards, like other bank payment virtual cards, in detail, since their use in discount projects is unlikely.
The near future of the virtual card
The latest generation phones (so far only iPhone 6 and Google Kit smartphones) in addition to the SIM card have another identification chip for storing information - an NFC chip. This chip can be used as a contactless smart card. To make payments, as an electronic access key, and as a discount card. You can “write” to it, imitate (emulate) almost any card. Mobile operators do not have access to information stored on the NFC chip. This is a separate platform created specifically for user systems, payment and discount projects. And mobile applications, in this case, act as a kind of operating system for virtual card data stored on a chip. Such a card is read by a contactless reader. And maybe such a card is much more than any other.- This is a smart card with all its advantages
- Provide and receive information of any type (text, graphic, statistical) about your products and services to the client on-line.
- May have a full-fledged user operating system. Essentially, to be a store on your phone with the ability to shop online. Or act as a consultant for a client on the sales floor.
- May have geolocation activation of various events linked to several places. Triggered events can be more than just text messages.
- Serve as both a discount card, a payment card, and an activation key for additional services.
- And its most important advantage is that it does not require any additional third-party services (even Internet access). The required minimum for activating services is a “user smartphone-reader”. Although, the ability to connect these services is retained.
Problem number one is the limited number of simultaneous users of the NFC chip. At the moment (2014) there can be no more than ten. If we roughly divide the functionality of the chip into several categories (payment card, transport card, identification card, parking card, retail chain card). There are from 3 to 7 free places left for discount projects. Having all the cards at once will not work, you will have to make a choice.
The second problem is mobile applications. The high cost of developing and technically supporting mobile applications will make it impossible for small and medium-sized businesses to use virtual smart cards.
The third problem is the complete absence of regulations and laws governing this area. In principle, with the help of such a card you can conduct all payments with your clients “over the counter” for your own currency, which will be stored on “your” card. This hole in the legislation will only be closed when virtual smart cards become widespread.
Fourth, it is necessary to integrate Western technologies developed by APPLE into our systems.
And the most important problem is that there are negligibly few smartphone users in our country who are aware of all its possible functions. It is impossible to talk about this technology without making reservations about its bright future and dark present.
(c) https://card-online.ru/articles
