Tech bytes for tea?

Pointpal is a nifty electronic wallet for managing loyalty programmes for consumers who want to enjoy benefits and freebies offered by participating vendors, without the hassle of carrying a multitude of loyalty cards and keeping track of the stamps and tokens associated with the individual cards.

Do you carry a two-inch thick credit card wallet specially to hold all the different loyalty cards and discount cards that you’ve signed up over time with different F&B outlets or boutiques? Some of these offer one free drink for every three drinks purchased or give a free massage for every eight sessions.

Most of the time, the number of purchases are indicated by stamps on the loyalty card. Accumulate the requisite number of stamps and you surrender the card to the bartender for that free cocktail.

Buy X to get Y free.

A new FREE app has been launched for the iPhone that promises to take the hassle out of participating in these loyalty programmes. Apps for Android and BlackBerry smartphones are in the works. Pointpal has already been launched in Australia.

Scan the QR code to join a new loyalty programme

The entire programme is based on the use of QR codes. Participating vendors will display these 2D barcodes on their advertisements and in their compound so that interested customers who have installed the Pointpal app on their iPhones can scan the QR code to sign up for the loyalty programme for that vendor.

This removes the hassle of filling in paper application forms for each loyalty programme you sign up. You only need to enter some basic details once when you first download and install the Pointpal app. After that, simply scan the vendor’s QR code to join.

After every relevant purchase at a participating outlet, you can key in the purchase and let the cashier or bartender verify the purchases by scanning his special QR code. Once you have accumulated enough purchases, show the app to the cashier redeem rewards and freebies. Again, the cashier or bartender will scan his special QR code to acknowledge redemption and then hand over that free drink or merchandise.

Even if the phone is lost, the records of the purchases with the various vendors are available in Pointpal’s cloud storage.

No more lugging around a fat loyalty card wallet, or looking for that elusive card just to get it stamped or to check number of stamps.

Initial participating vendors include Barcode Cocktail Bar, Nail Vibe, and Wine Universe. More can be found here.