Digital Stamp Card Costs: What Does a Stamp Card Cost?
Every week without a digital stamp card you lose loyal customers without noticing – set up in 5 minutes, free up to 100 customers.
A digital stamp card costs between 0 and 89 € per month. It depends on how many customers actively collect. But the cost of a stamp card isn't just the software. Paper, hardware, and custom apps have hidden costs that often exceed the price of a digital solution.
Four ways to offer a stamp card – and what they really cost
There are four options for offering a stamp card. Each has different cost categories:
| Method | One-time costs | Ongoing costs | Hidden costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paper card | Design, stamp | Printing, reprints | Time at checkout, fraud, no insights |
| Plastic card with terminal | Terminal, card production | Maintenance, software, card restocking | Hardware failure, counter space |
| Custom app | Development (five figures) | Hosting, updates, app store accounts | Customers won't download the app |
| Wallet stamp card (SaaS) | None | Monthly fee based on customers | No hardware, no development |
The Wallet method has no one-time costs and no hardware. That makes it attractive for small shops.
What paper cards really cost
Paper seems free. It isn't. Example: café with 300 cards in circulation per quarter:
- Printing: Several cents per card, plus design the first time. Budget a low double-digit amount per quarter.
- Time at checkout: Finding the card, stamping, handing it back takes longer than a scan. With 100 stamps a day, that's several minutes per shift.
- Lost cards: Some cards disappear. The customer starts over or gives up. This loss of loyalty is the most expensive item – but doesn't show up on any invoice.
- Fraud: Forged stamps and discounts without purchase cost you rewards. Nobody can trace it. Details in Preventing stamp card fraud.
- No insights: You don't know how many cards are active, who's gone inactive, or whether the program works.
Pure printing costs are low. The cost of what paper can't do is high. The full comparison is in Paper stamp card vs. digital stamp card.
Hardware solutions: terminal and plastic card
The classic plastic loyalty card with a reader at checkout is from an era before smartphones. The cost structure:
- Terminal or card reader as a purchase, often three figures (sometimes as a rental)
- Plastic cards in production, depending on quantity
- Software license, sometimes with vendor lock-in
- Replacement if defective, counter space needed
Plus the customer disadvantage: Another plastic card in the wallet that's left at home when needed. For chains with integrated checkout, this can make sense. For a single shop, the effort is usually disproportionate.
Custom app: the most expensive option
Some owners consider a custom app because they know it from big chains. The scale: Developing a simple loyalty app typically costs five figures. Plus ongoing costs for servers, updates with every new iOS and Android version, and app store developer accounts.
The bigger problem isn't the money, it's adoption: Customers won't download an app for a café. The barrier is too high. The app disappears from the phone after two weeks. Why Wallet cards don't have this problem is explained in Customer loyalty without a custom app.
Do your own math: what costs do you have?
Answer these questions yes or no:
- Do you reprint stamp cards because they run out or get lost?
- Does stamping at checkout take longer than 10 seconds per customer?
- Do you not know how many cards are active and who's gone inactive?
- Have you ever given out a reward when you weren't sure the card was genuine?
- Are you missing insights on whether your loyalty program actually works?
Every yes is a hidden cost. Paper and hardware cost not just money, but also time, visibility, and loyalty.
stampa pricing in detail
stampa charges based on active customers. These are cards actually being used – not cards ever handed out. All plans are month-to-month cancellable.
| Plan | Price per month | Active customers | Key differences |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | 0 € | up to 100 | No credit card required, your own logo and colors, with "Powered by stampa" |
| Starter | 29 € | up to 250 | No "Powered by stampa", Google review bonus |
| Growth | 49 € | up to 750 | Plus geofencing (reminder when nearby), CSV export |
| Pro | 89 € | up to 2,000 | For shops with many loyal customers or multiple locations |
| Enterprise | On request | More than 2,000 | Custom agreement |
Annual billing saves you about two months. Every plan includes: Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, stamping via smartphone with no hardware, lock screen messages, automations for win-back, birthday, and slow days, print-ready poster with QR code, auto-generated privacy policy, and dashboard with ROI measurement.
Current pricing is on the pricing page.
Which plan for which shop?
The only question is: how many customers actively collect?
- New shop or just testing: Free. 100 active customers is a lot to start with. You pay nothing as long as you stay under that.
- Café, bakery, snack bar in a residential area: Starter usually works for the first year. 250 active customers is a solid base.
- Busy café in the city center, restaurant with many regulars: Growth. Geofencing (reminder when the customer is nearby) brings extra visits in high foot-traffic areas.
- Multiple locations or very high frequency: Pro.
Example calculation Starter: 29 € per month with 200 active customers is 14.5 cents per customer per month. If just one in ten customers makes one extra visit per month because of the card, that's 20 visits. At a 5 € average ticket, that's 100 € in sales – more than three times the cost. And this effect is measured with a real control group in stampa, not guessed.
What else to budget for
Regardless of provider, every loyalty program has two line items outside the software:
- Cost of goods for rewards: The free coffee costs you about 0.80 € in goods. With 80 redeemed rewards per month, that's 64 €. How to choose a reward that works and stays affordable is in Choosing the right reward for your loyalty program.
- Printing the poster: A few euros at the copy shop, one-time.
That's it. No hardware, no development, no card production.
What happens if you don't change anything
Without a digital stamp card, you lose loyal customers every week without noticing. Paper cards get lost, customers forget them at home, you can't see who's gone inactive. You have no chance to react in time. And you don't know if your loyalty program works – or if you're giving away rewards nobody needs.
With a digital stamp card in Wallet, you see in the dashboard who's collecting, who's gone inactive, and how much revenue the program brings. You can react before the customer leaves. And you only pay for customers actually collecting.
Conclusion
A digital stamp card costs 0 € to 100 active customers with stampa, then 29, 49, or 89 € per month – no hardware, no development. Paper seems cheaper but costs time, loyalty, and visibility. Terminals and custom apps are disproportionate for single shops. The easiest way is to do the math yourself: Start free, no credit card, and see in the dashboard what the card brings. Set up in 5 minutes, no risk.