First contactless loyalty card in the UK issued to several million customers 

Thames Card Technology has completed a project with Tesco to launch the UK’s first contactless loyalty card programme. With 66% of global shoppers enrolled in loyalty programmes (Nielsen) and cardholders spending between 12-18% more than other customers (Accenture), loyalty schemes are a key differentiator for UK retailers. The completely redesigned card increases security and value for customers, and gives Tesco greater brand recognition and actionable data. Several million cards are now in the hands of customers and many more will be issued over the coming months.

Simon Pepperdine, Tesco Clubcard Project Manager, said: “Tesco Clubcard is one of the most uniquely helpful things we do and it’s our way of saying thank you to our customers for shopping with us. We’ve listened to customers and we’re delighted to have made Clubcard even simpler and easier to use by working in partnership with Thames to introduce a brand new contactless card.”

New design, new tech

To make the new Clubcard stand out in increasingly full wallets, a new PVC core colour was developed to match the red of the Tesco brand, contrasting with the deep blue of the face and rear of the card. Thames has also carried this design to the manufacture of the Clubcard’s companion loyalty keyfob. Customers can also use the card in three different ways at the point of sale, either tapping using contactless, swiping the magnetic stripe or scanning the barcode.

“This project is a milestone for Thames, Tesco and UK loyalty,” adds Paul Underwood, Managing Director of Thames Card Technology. “Contactless payments are proving to be a huge hit with consumers so it’s exciting to apply its security and convenience to loyalty. The brief required a number of technologies and design innovations to come together in a short time for an extremely large, high-profile launch. As the strategic partner of choice for UK loyalty cards, we put our team to work on getting the new colour for the card core just right and brought in a suite of new machinery. Millions of Tesco Clubcards have now been issued from our secure bureau and I can’t wait to start using mine!”

Support at every stage

Thames has now completed the personalisation, processing and issuance of 750,000 card packs per week over the course of the project for Tesco. It also manufactures, personalises and encapsulates the companion keyfob. Thames’ investment in state of the art equipment enables it to personalise the magnetic stripe, contactless chip and barcode in one pass. This maximises efficiency and allows Thames to react quickly to Tesco’s needs.

Learn more in Thames’ blog on next gen loyalty or read more about its state of the art personalisation equipment.