What is "Contactless" Validation and how does it work?

Contactless validation lets customers scan one printed QR code to join your program, add a stamp, or redeem a reward — no 4-digit PIN and no staff involvement. A printed code issues one stamp, and by default a customer can scan it once every 12 hours. For multiple stamps or no waiting period, use the Code Generator instead.

Hey presto! Works like “magic”!

Contactless validation makes adding stamps and redeeming rewards incredibly convenient. Rather than inputting a 4-digit PIN code into your customer’s phone to add stamps and redeem rewards, you can ask customers to simply scan one single printed QR code. This QR code will handle everything for you.

Advantages of the contactless QR code

The contactless QR code will handle 3 things for you:

1. Join Program. If customers are new and have not yet downloaded the app, they can scan the QR code with their phone camera and still get a stamp with a single scan. They will be prompted to download and install the Flex Rewards app, and once installation is complete a stamp will automatically be added to their loyalty card.
2. Add Stamps. Adding subsequent stamps also becomes incredibly convenient for your customers. Whenever customers need to add a stamp, they can scan the QR code from their phone camera or with the Flex Rewards app. Either method will work.
3. Redeeming Rewards. Redeeming rewards is also simple. Customers tap the “Redeem” button on their chosen reward and scan the QR code to validate redemption. Customers show the redemption success screen to your staff to confirm that the reward has been redeemed. Validated rewards also appear in the “redeemed” tab of your customer’s Flex Rewards app if your customer inadvertently dismisses their success screen early.

How you will benefit

• No staff distractions. When things get busy, your staff won’t have time to input a 4-digit PIN code on your customer’s phone. Pointing customers to the contactless QR code is a good way to move customers along after they complete payment so your staff can attend to your next customer.
• No need to memorize (or display) a 4-digit PIN. Have you ever forgotten the 4-digit PIN code or misplaced the Store PIN sheet? We know this is a common problem. Now you don’t need to memorize the PIN code or display the 4-digit PIN code for staff.
• No staff training. The contactless QR code validation method is so easy to use, you don’t need to train new staff how to use the Flex Rewards loyalty program. Just instruct staff to point to the contactless QR code whenever customers want to add loyalty stamps.

Security measures

A printed QR code is static, so without a limit the same code could be photographed and re-scanned. To prevent that, customers can only scan a printed code once every 12 hours by default. You can change this time-out under Issue Stamps in your dashboard — shorten it if your customers legitimately visit more often, or lengthen it if they typically visit weekly.

If you need to issue several stamps at once, or issue them without any waiting period, use the Code Generator instead. Generated codes are single-use and expire after about 90 seconds, so they don’t need a time-out at all.

Manual override of security measures

There may be some circumstances where you might need to add more than one loyalty stamp to a customer’s card at any one time. Because security restrictions associated with the contactless QR code limit the addition of stamps to 1 per time, you can add multiple stamps by selecting “Staff Validation” and using your 4-digit PIN code. You can learn more about using the 4-digit PIN code in this article.

What else is new? Customer names & status

We’ve also taken the opportunity to revamp the success and validation screens in the app to add 2 things for you and your staff:

• Customer Names. Staff can now see the names of your customers. This will help train staff to learn the names of your patrons, allowing you to deliver a warmer, more personalized experience for your customers.
• Loyalty Stamps Collected. Staff will also be able to see the total number of stamps a customer has collected over the lifetime of their membership with you. This also helps staff identify who your VIP customers are, again allowing you to provide a more personal and customized experience for your customers.

Where can I find my contactless QR code?

To download and print your contactless QR code, go to the “Validation” tab of your merchant portal and select “Contactless”. Your contactless QR code will be printed on a 1-page PDF sheet.