One of the most ingenious uses for the iPhone, in theory at least, is storing all of those loyalty cards and rewards cards that clutter up your keychain and your wallet. Cardbank is an app that helps you do just that.
So far, we’ve reviewed two other apps that let you store loyalty cards, Scannaroo and Cardstar. How does Cardbank compare? Like Cardstar, Cardbank allows you to load up your loyalty cards by entering in the bar code numbers, instead of relying on your phone’s camera like Scannaroo. However, Cardbank currently doesn’t have as many retailers as Cardstar-Cardstar has “hundreds,” CardBank has 120, although more are in the pipeline. (UPDATE-Cardbank now has 250 merchants in their database). There also doesn’t appear to be a way to add unsupported cards, as there is on Cardstar.
Of course, it would be possible to overlook these drawbacks IF Cardbank worked better than Cardstar. However, based on the reviews in the App Store, that doesn’t seem to be the case. Trouble scanning bar codes is a common problem for these types of apps, and Cardbank’s performance may even be worse than Cardstar’s, as their App Store rating is lower.
Finally, Cardbank is $.99 and Cardstar is free. There really is no contest here-if you want to try out a loyalty card app, Cardstar is still your best bet!
What do you think of Cardbank?
Our Rating of Cardbank
Categories:mobile
Tool of the Day: CardBank: Another iPhone Loyalty Card App http://su.pr/1DmGCd
Another iPhone Loyalty Card App – One of the most ingenious uses for the iPhone is storing all of those loyalty car… http://ow.ly/165nSh
Another iPhone Loyalty Card App – One of the most ingenious uses for the iPhone is storing all of those loyalty car… http://ow.ly/165nSh
Reading: Another iPhone Loyalty Card App http://bit.ly/6wbztZ
Useful Tools compares CardStar, Scannaroo and Cardbank, guess who comes out on top across the board?… CARDSTAR! http://tinyurl.com/yfltnmd
Useful Tools compares CardStar, Scannaroo and Cardbank, guess who comes out on top across the board?… CARDSTAR! http://tinyurl.com/yfltnmd
RT @usefultools: Tool of the Day: CardBank: Another iPhone Loyalty Card App http://su.pr/1DmGCd
RT @usefultools: Tool of the Day: CardBank: Another iPhone Loyalty Card App http://su.pr/1DmGCd
I don’t believe that this comparison was really fair. As of January 2010, Cardbank now has over 250 retail programs. Unlike Cardstar which arbitrarily guesses the barcode symbology based on the number of data characters, Cardbank actually represents the actual barcode used by the store. The negative reviews involving scanning performance had nothing to do with the application but rather the scanning equipment at the respective retailers. GS1 Mobile has just completed a whitepaper and this issue is fully discussed.
More importantly, since Cardstar is a free application to users, they make money selling data. Cardbank was built to complete protect users’ privacy and shopping frequency. There is no such thing as a free lunch. Please reconsider additional research.
Hi Andy,
I’m sorry you weren’t happy with the review. I’ll update the review with the number of loyalty programs you now have, but please note that when I reviewed your app, you only had 120.
Also, I’m not sure I’d be too concerned with Cardstar collecting data-if you’re shopping with a loyalty card, the store is already collecting data about your purchases, which to me is more personal than the frequency with which I visit a certain grocery store.
I really like Cardbank and I think the drawbacks will be covered in the future version.