More than three billion loyalty cards will operate as mobile-only or be integrated into apps by 2020, up from 1.4 billion last year, according to Juniper Research. It says that brands and retailers are increasingly offering customers the opportunity to store their loyalty cards within a dedicated digital wallet. And the improved targeting and personalisation that comes of this is leading to greater activity rates.

At the same time, however, there are wide variations amongst retailers and other reward card providers with regard to the extent of digital loyalty integration. In the UK, around 40 per cent of Nectar Card holders had acquired the loyalty app by late-2015, but less than four per cent of Tesco Clubcard holders. There is a similar disparity between US retailers Walgreens, where 61 per cent of card holders had linked their card to an app, and Target (27 per cent).

According to research author Dr Windsor Holden: “These disparities are likely to result from a number of factors. While in part they may reflect the level of satisfaction with the app and, or the features it offers, they may also be attributable to a greater degree – or greater success – of retailer marketing of their digital loyalty options.”

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