QR code and NFC look like cousins: two ways of connecting a phone to a service. For a restaurant menu, the choice makes no difference. For a loyalty programme, it makes all the difference, because a loyalty programme hands out value, and value attracts cheating.
The problem with the QR code: it is an image
A QR code is a printed or displayed image. And an image, by nature:
- can be photographed, then scanned from anywhere, as many times as you like;
- can be shared: in a group chat, a whole family racks up points on a single real visit;
- can be reused: the same code works today, tomorrow, in a month.
Vendors know this and add patches: rotating codes, staff validation, geolocation. Each patch reintroduces exactly what digital loyalty promised to remove: friction for the customer or work for the team.
NFC: a physical event, not an image
This is what we call proof of presence: the point is mathematically tied to the visit to the till. To our knowledge, it is the most robust approach on the local loyalty market: the other players work on media that can be forged (QR, wallet), where the encrypted NFC tap cannot.
An honest scorecard
- Customer simplicity: apparently equal (one gesture), but NFC avoids opening the camera and framing the code.
- Point reliability: NFC, no contest. QR relies on trust; NFC relies on physics.
- Load on the team: secured QR often requires human validation; NFC, none.
- Quality of statistics: with a shareable QR, the data counts noise; with proof of presence, every visit counted is a real visit.
A loyalty programme is an investment. You might as well base it on figures that mean something.