Tesco and Subway have announced they have moved into the area of “virtual loyalty cards”.

We all know how the original loyalty card works in that you get points which lead to discount in the future. The conventional method involves getting your card scanned at the till before you pay, which is fine as long as you remember your card.

The new virtual method involves an application generating a bar-code on your mobile that is linked to your loyalty account. When you pay you can scan the mobiles screen and add points that way. You can also view how many points you have on your mobiles screen.

You can learn more about the applications on the relevant store websites, but we can see virtual loyalty cards becoming ever more popular because one thing you never forget is your mobile.