Physical loyalty cards or a loyalty app? Costs for Philippine businesses
By The Digicard team · Published 15 Oct 2026 · Facts checked
The short answer
For a café with 300 regulars a month, paper stamp cards cost about ₱2,700 a year to print. Your own loyalty app starts at ₱157,782 in its first year, before hosting and updates.
Most businesses in the Philippines only weigh those two, but there is a third option: a Google Wallet or Apple Wallet card. It costs ₱4,032 a year with Digicard, including VAT, with nothing for customers to download. Paper still wins for a small, informal program. An own app makes sense for a chain that wants ordering or payments. For everyone in between, price a wallet card too.
The feature table shows the difference day to day: a wallet card can't be left at home, works at every branch, keeps scanning through a weak signal, and lets you message customers, none of which paper can do. Digicard also keeps a record of every customer, a simple built-in CRM, and an analytics dashboard of visits, rewards and returning customers by branch.
Features compared
What each option does, read from each vendor's own website on 15 Oct 2026. Where a vendor's site doesn't mention a feature we say so, rather than guess.
| Feature | Paper card | Your own app | Digicard |
|---|---|---|---|
| For your customers | |||
| No app for customers to install | Yes | NoCustomers install your app | Yes |
| Apple Wallet and Google Wallet | No | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | Yes |
| Customer’s own card page (history, rewards ready) | No | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | YesBalance, rewards ready and history |
| Card types | |||
| Stamp cards | Yes | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | Yes |
| Points and tiers | No | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | Yes |
| At the counter | |||
| Staff scan from any phone | NoStamped or punched by hand | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | YesIn the browser |
| Scanning works offline | YesNothing to connect | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | YesScans sync when the connection returns |
| Running the program | |||
| One card across branches | PartialWorks anywhere, but no branch can see the balance | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | Yes |
| Reward stock tracked per branch | No | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | Yes |
| Customer records (a simple built-in CRM) | NoThe card records nothing about who holds it | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | YesEvery customer in one searchable list, with their details, sign-up answers, balances, rewards and visits |
| Analytics dashboard | No | PartialPossible if you build it, at extra cost | Yes |
| Marketing | |||
| Message customers on their card | No | YesPush notifications, while the app stays installed | YesOne card or every cardholder |
Yes Partial Planned Not stated No“Not stated” means the vendor's own site does not say. “Planned” means Digicard is building it.
What each costs, in pesos
Paper is priced from a local printer's quote of ₱3 a card. The app build is a published Manila agency estimate, and agencies quote widely different prices, so get two or three quotes. Stamp Me bills in US dollars, so its peso figure moves with the exchange rate.
| Option | Year one (PHP) | Year one (USD) | Billed on | How we worked it out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper stamp cardsPhysical card | ₱2,700 | ≈ US$43 | Every card printed | 900 cards × ₱3 |
| Your own loyalty appLoyalty app | ₱157,782–407,782 | ≈ US$2,514–6,498 | One-time build, plus app store fees | ₱150,000–400,000 build + US$99 Apple + US$25 Google Play. Hosting and upkeep not included. |
| Stamp Me (loyalty app)Loyalty app | ≈ ₱36,901 | US$588 | Flat monthly plan per location | Lite US$49 × 12 months |
| DigicardWallet card | ₱4,032 | ≈ US$64 | Active Cards only | 300 Active Cards × ₱1 × 12 months + 12% VAT |
≈ marks a figure converted from the vendor's own billing currency. See “How we compared this” below for the rate and assumptions.
| Option | Year one (PHP) | Year one (USD) | Billed on | How we worked it out |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paper stamp cardsPhysical card | ₱18,000 | ≈ US$287 | Every card printed | 6,000 cards × ₱3 |
| Your own loyalty appLoyalty app | ₱157,782–407,782 | ≈ US$2,514–6,498 | One-time build, plus app store fees | ₱150,000–400,000 build + US$99 Apple + US$25 Google Play. Hosting and upkeep not included. |
| Stamp Me (loyalty app)Loyalty app | Not published | Not published | Flat monthly plan per location | Lite covers one location, and Stamp Me does not publish a multi-location price. |
| DigicardWallet card | ₱26,880 | ≈ US$428 | Active Cards only | 2,000 Active Cards × ₱1 × 12 months + 12% VAT |
≈ marks a figure converted from the vendor's own billing currency. See “How we compared this” below for the rate and assumptions.
How each works at the counter
| Question | Paper stamp card | Your own app | Wallet card |
|---|---|---|---|
| What the customer needs | The card, in their wallet | Your app installed, with storage and data to download it | Google Wallet or Apple Wallet, already on the phone |
| Forgot it at home | No stamp, or a second card | Rarely, it’s on the phone | Rarely, it’s on the phone |
| Several branches | Works anywhere, but nobody can see the balance | One account everywhere | One card at every branch |
| Customer list | None | Yes | Yes: with Digicard, each customer’s visits and rewards |
| Seeing how the program is doing | Count stamps by hand | If you build the reports | Built-in analytics dashboard with Digicard |
| Telling a regular their reward is waiting | Not possible | Push notification, if the app is still installed | Updates and messages on the card |
| Ongoing cost | Reprints | Hosting, updates, developer fees | Per card used each month |
Google Wallet is new in the Philippines
Google Wallet launched in the Philippines on 18 November 2025, with support for loyalty cards and boarding passes. Apple Wallet is built into every iPhone. Between them, a wallet card works on most smartphones your customers carry.
Moving from paper to a wallet card
- Design the card with your logo and colours, and set the reward, for example 10 stamps for a free drink.
- Print the counter board Digicard makes from your branding, or upload your own artwork with the QR code in it.
- When a regular adds the card, staff add the stamps from their paper card. If you have a member list, from plastic membership cards for example, we can import it so each person claims a card already in their name, confirmed with the last four digits of their mobile number.
- Keep honouring paper for a few weeks and keep some cards for customers without a smartphone.
US prices and the wider comparison
For US prices and the wider comparison, see what a loyalty program costs.
Questions
How much does a loyalty app cost in the Philippines?
A Manila agency guide puts a small, basic app at ₱150,000–400,000 to build, before Apple’s US$99 yearly developer fee, Google Play’s US$25 one-time fee, and hosting and updates. Subscription loyalty apps exist, but most bill in US dollars: Stamp Me Lite is US$49 a month.
How much do printed loyalty cards cost in the Philippines?
About ₱3 a card from a local printer. For a café with 300 regulars a month that is roughly ₱2,700 a year, counting replacements for full and lost cards.
Does Google Wallet work in the Philippines?
Google Wallet launched in the Philippines on 18 November 2025, with support for loyalty cards and boarding passes.
How much is Digicard in the Philippines?
₱1 per Active Card per month, plus 12% VAT. An Active Card is one with at least one stamp, reward or message that month, so customers who don’t come back cost nothing.
Can I send push notifications to customers?
Yes, with a wallet card or an app; not with paper. Digicard puts a message on one customer’s card or on every cardholder’s card, and the phone shows it as a notification. SMS and email campaigns are planned.
How we compared this
Prepared by The Digicard team. Digicard sells wallet loyalty cards, so read this as a vendor's comparison: every competitor price below links to the vendor's own pricing page and the day we checked it. If a price has changed, tell us at support@digicard.tech and we will correct the page.
Features
- Competitors' features come from their own pricing and product pages, linked below. “Not stated” means the page didn't say, not that the feature is missing.
- Digicard's “Yes” means it is live today. “Planned” means we are building it and it is not available yet.
- “Your own app” can do almost anything if you pay to build it, so most of its cells say so rather than Yes or No.
The businesses we priced
- One café: 1 location, 300 customers using their card each month, 600 customers carded over the year.
- Three branches: 3 locations, 2,000 customers using their card each month, 4,000 customers carded over the year.
Assumptions
- Costs are for the first 12 months, using each vendor's month-to-month price. Most offer a discount for paying a year up front.
- Paper: 1.5 cards printed per carded customer a year (everyone gets one; half need another because theirs filled up or got lost). Stamps, punches and staff time are not counted.
- Your own app: an agency's published build estimate plus Apple and Google developer fees. Hosting, maintenance, updates and marketing the download are not counted, and they are ongoing.
- Wallet platforms: the cheapest plan that covers the number of locations. PassKit is priced with one staff login per location, with every card issued during the year still on file.
- Digicard: billed on Active Cards, the cards with at least one stamp, reward or message in the month. Philippine prices include 12% VAT; US prices are before sales tax, which varies by state.
- Currency: each vendor's own billing currency is exact. The other column is converted at ₱62.756 = US$1, the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas reference exchange rate on 25 Sep 2026.
Sources
- Small, basic mobile app (Manila agency estimate): Manila Recruitment, Cost to make an app in the Philippines (May 2025). Checked 15 Oct 2026.
- Apple Developer Program: Apple Developer Program. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
- Google Play developer registration: Google Play Console registration fee. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
- Stamp Me Lite: Stamp Me pricing. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
- Printed paper loyalty card (Philippines): Quote from a local printer in the Philippines, obtained by the Digicard team. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
- Digicard (Philippines): Digicard standard offer. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
- Google Wallet launched in the Philippines on 18 November 2025, with support for loyalty cards and boarding passes.: Unbox.ph, Google Wallet finally official in the Philippines. Checked 15 Oct 2026.
We re-check every price at least once a quarter, and the date at the top of the page moves when we do.
Try Digicard
Design your card, print the QR for your counter, and pay only for the cards your customers use. Get started.