Stamps vs points loyalty card: which mechanic to choose

What is the difference between a stamp card and a points card?

A stamp card counts eligible visits or purchases: after a fixed number of stamps the customer receives the reward, for example a free tenth coffee. A points card builds up a balance that grows in proportion to what the customer buys, and the balance is spent on rewards that cost a certain number of points.

The practical difference comes down to three questions: what counts, who does the arithmetic and how easily the customer can see how far they are from the reward. With stamps it is enough to look at the boxes; with points you need an earning rule, meaning how many points a purchase is worth, and a list of rewards with their cost in points.

How does a points loyalty scheme work?

A points scheme works with two rules written before launch: what a point is worth and how many points each reward costs. For example, in a hypothetical shop, «one point for every euro spent, rounded down» and «150 points for a 5-euro voucher off your next purchase». Customers earn on every purchase and choose when to spend their balance.

The arithmetic can be done by the till, if the scheme is integrated with the cash register or card terminal, or by staff, who enter the points by hand. In the second case the rule must stay simple: one point per product or per spending band is easy to work out in your head; one point per euro with the cents is not. What to print on the sheet, from rule and threshold to reward and expiry, is covered in the guide on how to set up a points sheet.

1. Decide what a point is worth

   One point per euro, per product or per spending band: choose the rule your staff can apply without a calculator.

2. Write down how you round

   «Rounded down to the euro» or «one point every 5 euros»: without rounding, every receipt with cents becomes a question.

3. Prepare the list of rewards

   Two or three rewards with their cost in points, from the nearest to the most ambitious, with the real cost of each to you.

4. Set expiry and corrections

   How long points stay valid and how a wrong entry or a refund is reversed.

Stamps vs points: two worked examples with 2026 prices

At a café, prices almost make the choice for you. In Rome, according to the price observatory of Italy’s Ministry of Enterprises and Made in Italy, in August 2026 an espresso at the bar cost €1.24 on average and a cappuccino €1.45. With «one point per euro, rounded down» each is worth one point: the points card counts visits just like a stamp card, but with one more rule to explain. At a café, stamps are enough; coffee prices city by city are on the price of coffee in Italy page.

At a pizzeria the bill varies more: in Milan, in the same survey, a pizzeria meal ranged from 9 to 23 euros, with an average of 14.50 euros. In the example the reward is a 14.50-euro meal, given after 10 stamps or at 140 points, with one point per euro rounded down. The table shows how many visits it takes and what the reward is worth against the customer’s total spend up to that point.

• With stamps, low spenders get proportionally more back: 16.1% of their spend against 6.3% for high spenders.
• With points the share stays between 9.0 and 10.1% for everyone, but low spenders wait 16 visits instead of 10.
• If nearly all your customers spend around the average, stamps stay simpler; if quick lunches and big dinners sit side by side, points are fairer, as long as staff enter the right points on every visit.
• Run the same numbers with your own prices: the lowest, the average and the highest bill of the week. For the real cost of the reward rather than its menu price, use the calculator.

Cashback, tiers and prepaid passes: the other mechanics

Besides stamps and points, loyalty cards use other mechanics. They have different aims: some reward frequency, others spending, and others are not really rewards but packages paid for in advance. It helps to know them so you can pick the one that matches the behaviour you want to reward.

When a stamp loyalty card makes sense

A stamp card makes sense when every visit has a similar value and customers come back often. That is the case for coffee at a café, a cut at the barber’s, a wash at a car wash or a takeaway pizza: the rule fits in one sentence and staff only need to confirm the visit.

It also works well when different people work the counter on different shifts, because there is nothing to calculate. Concrete examples by sector are in the guides for cafés, barbershops, pizzerias and car washes.

• The receipt is similar from one visit to the next.
• Customers come back every week or more often.
• You want one clear reward, written next to the last box.
• Your till is not connected to the scheme and you do not want arithmetic at the counter.

When a points loyalty card makes sense

A points card makes sense when spending varies a lot from one customer to the next: grocers, wine shops, delis, an ice cream shop selling both cones and one-kilo tubs. With one stamp per visit, someone buying a sandwich and someone doing the week’s shopping would earn the same reward; with points the reward follows the spend.

Points do, however, demand more discipline. The earning rule must be understandable, rewards must be reachable in a reasonable time and staff must enter the right points, or you need a till that does it for them. If the type of reward makes you wonder whether it is a prize promotion, read the loyalty card rules in Italy before launch. An example of a per-product rule is in the guide to the ice cream shop loyalty card. If part of a receipt cannot earn points, such as medicines in a pharmacy, staff type only the eligible part: there is an example in the loyalty card for pharmacies and parapharmacies.

• The receipt varies widely from one customer to another.
• You want to offer several rewards at different costs, from the near one to the ambitious one.
• Some customers come rarely but spend a lot on each visit.
• Points are easy to work out in your head, or the till does it.

The most common mistakes when choosing points or stamps

The most common mistakes are not about the mechanic itself but about how it is applied at the counter and explained to the customer.

• One point per euro with no rounding: every receipt with cents starts a debate.
• Points rewards so far away that customers stop counting before they get there.
• Stamps and points mixed on the same card: customers no longer know what they are collecting.
• Changing mechanic when customers have already collected stamps or points, without honouring what was promised.
• No written expiry, for stamps or for points.
• Choosing the reward without knowing its cost: the reward cost calculator spreads the cost over the visits required.

Stamps or points with Iterum

Iterum offers stamp cards and points cards on every plan. With a stamp card staff confirm the eligible visit; with a points card you decide what a point is worth and staff record the points in the counter app («Al banco»), scanning the card’s QR code or typing its code. Iterum does not read the receipt or connect to the till, so it does not calculate points automatically from the amount spent; if you need that, the comparisons with Fedelya and Passtastic describe two services that offer POS integration.

Iterum’s public pages do not describe cashback or tiers. From the Pro plan, though, Iterum handles prepaid passes, as a prepaid package on a separate card: the customer pays at the counter as usual and at each visit staff take off one visit or session. The card type is chosen before you invite customers and cannot be changed once the card has customers: anyone who has started collecting should be able to get the reward they were promised. To try the other mechanic you create a second card: active cards are 1 on Base, 2 on Pro and 3 on Premium, as shown on the pricing page.

You can prepare the card before paying in the designer and try it with the 7-day free trial: you pay €0 today, a payment card is required and the selected plan continues after the trial unless you cancel.

Sources and method

Earning rules, points rewards and sector examples are assumptions to adapt, not data collected from real businesses and not recommended targets. The prices in the worked examples come from the MIMIT price observatory, August 2026 survey for Rome and Milan, consulted on 16 October 2026; visits and percentages are our own calculation at menu prices. The information about Iterum describes the product as of 16 October 2026, as shown on its public pages and pricing page, and does not promise more visits or more sales.

This guide is not legal or tax advice: for obligations linked to the type of reward it points to the loyalty card rules in Italy and to your accountant. Outside Italy, check your own national rules.