A membership card identifies a customer as a member of your club or program, granting them specific privileges. Think of it like a VIP lounge at an airport — members get access to enhanced services that non-members don't.

Membership cards can be free or paid. When connected to Stripe, you can collect recurring payments (daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or yearly) with auto-renewal, or charge a one-time fee for lifetime access. You can also offer free trial periods to let potential members try your services before committing.

When the card is scanned, the scanner shows the cardholder's identity and membership status (valid or invalid). You can also track visits by writing off check-ins from the card.

For example, a gym could offer a Basic membership at $35/month with 30 visits included, and a Premium membership at $70/month with 90 visits. Members install the card, subscribe through Stripe, and use their digital membership card for check-ins.

You can either create a card using a pre-loaded template or build one from scratch. This guide walks through creating a card from scratch.

A card is created by completing five sections: Card Type, Settings, Design, Information, and Save & Preview.

Important: The card type cannot be changed after the card is activated. We also do not recommend changing the card type after selecting it, as the card mechanics may not work correctly. Create a new card instead if needed.

Choose the barcode type that determines how the card is scanned and recognized by the system.

Choose whether to collect payments for the membership:

When payment collection is disabled, you can still track visits through the scanner. If you want to collect cash payments instead of using Stripe, you can enable the Purchase amount when charging toggle — your staff will enter the purchase amount manually with each transaction.

What is Membership V1? Membership V1 is a simple member/participant card (club pass) that doesn't use points or rewards. It tracks membership status (active/expired) and lets you log visits via the scanner, but has no points or reward logic. Setup takes about 5 minutes.

Tip: Free membership cards are also a great way to collect customer data and build your customer base without requiring any payment.

To collect payments, connect your Stripe account:

Important: If you're testing, use Stripe's test keys first. Switch to production (live) keys only when you're ready to charge real customers. To switch, disconnect the test account in Perkstar, toggle Stripe from test mode to live mode, create a new secret key, and reconnect with the production keys.

If auto-renewal is enabled, set the expiration date based on the paid period — the expiration aligns with the billing cycle automatically.

If auto-renewal is disabled, choose from the standard options:

Note: Regardless of the period the customer has paid for, the card will cease to be valid after the expiration date.

Set the label for the units shown on the membership card (e.g., "Visits," "Washes," "Classes," "Massages," "Access"). This is a display label only (e.g., "Available: 8 Visits") and does not change pricing or logic.

Set a free trial period for new members, between 0 and 30 days. During the trial, customers must enter their payment card details through Stripe. Stripe authorizes the card (less than $0.50) to validate it before granting trial access. After the trial ends, the regular subscription charge begins.

Create multiple membership levels. At least one tier is required. Each tier includes:

Tip: Don't hesitate to use emojis in your benefits list to make the pricing page more visually appealing.

Tip: For free memberships, set the limit to 0 to skip visit tracking limits. The system will still track visits but won't enforce a cap. You can also disable the limits field on the card's front view in the Design section if it's not relevant.

Important: Once the promotion is activated, prices cannot be changed.

You can create up to 6 tiers. Click Add Tier or copy an existing tier and customize it. You can also disable a tier if you don't want to sell a specific subscription level (e.g., daily).

Note: If payment collection via Stripe is disabled, cards issued through the general link will default to the minimum tier and recommended period. If you issue cards in bulk, you can manually assign the tier and period. You can also change the tier in the customer's profile.

Define the fields customers fill out when installing the card.

Important: For membership cards, the email field is mandatory. You can also add a photo field to display the customer's photo on the front of the card — useful for identifying members at your location.

Enter the location(s) of your business to trigger push notifications. Customers with the card installed in Apple Wallet receive a notification when they are within 100 meters. You can add 1 location on the Starter plan, 3 on Growth, and up to 10 on the Scale plan.

Select the language for your membership card from the dropdown.

Choose how the date is displayed on the card. If the card has no expiration date, this setting is irrelevant.

For membership cards, this setting is irrelevant since this card type has no points.

For membership cards, this setting is generally not needed since you already know how much customers pay through Stripe. You can skip this step.

Note: This applies only to transactions made via the scanner. It's more relevant for card types like stamp cards where purchase amounts aren't tracked automatically.

Create channel links for analytics tracking. Perkstar generates a unique URL and QR code for each tag. You can share your membership card across digital channels like your Facebook group, Instagram, or TikTok using different UTM links to track which performs best.

Tip: You can create customer segments based on UTM tags. We recommend setting this up from the very beginning.

Select which country prefix appears by default in the card issuance form. Customers can choose a different country if needed.

Enable or disable the toggle next to Privacy Policy to show or hide consent on the card installation form. You can edit the privacy policy text as needed.

Enable Consent to the processing of personal data to add a marketing consent checkbox. When customers agree, you can send them text messages in addition to push notifications.

Choose where customers can install the card. This setting is flexible and can be changed at any time.

Tip: For Android users, we recommend using PWA cards over Google Wallet, because Google Wallet does not currently support push notifications natively.

Control how many cards can be distributed. Set to 0 for unlimited.

Tip: For free memberships, consider setting a specific limit (e.g., 20 cards) to control the size of your promotion.

Control how many times a cardholder can check in per day. For example, a gym might set this to 2 check-ins per day.

Note: If you already set visit limits within your membership tiers, you may want to leave this as unlimited to avoid double-limiting.

Add custom analytics scripts (such as Facebook Pixel or Google Tag Manager) to track card installs and related user actions.

Once all fields are configured, click Continue to move to the Design section.

Click Select File to upload a logo displayed on the card and the release form. Follow the file size and weight recommendations.

Click Select File to upload an icon displayed in push messages. Follow the file size and weight recommendations.

Click Select File to upload a background image for the center of the card. Follow the file size and weight recommendations.

Tip: If you enable the member photo display, consider removing the background image for better readability of the name and photo on the card.

Set colors for card background, text color, and background color of the central part.

Note: If you uploaded a custom background image, the background color setting is overridden by the image.

If you collect photos through the card issuing form, enable these two toggles to display the cardholder's photo and name on the front of the card. This helps identify members at your location.

Use the Field dropdown to select which fields appear on the front of the card. Default fields include membership tier and available limits. Use the Field Name column to rename how fields appear on the card.

Once all design choices are made, click Continue to move to the Information section.

Enter a short description of the card (your membership program name).

Enter the name of your business. This name appears in push notifications.

Add links displayed on the back of the card:

There is no limit on the number of active links. Click Add Link to add more.

Note: For iPhone users, links may not be clickable in the card's quick view. Customers should open the card through the Apple Wallet app to access them.

Add links for customer reviews. These links are not displayed on the back of the card — customers only see them after rating their visit (after selecting stars).

You can use popular platforms (Google Maps, Facebook, Yelp, Foursquare) or custom links (Typeform, Google Forms) for feedback collection.

Enable the toggle to include terms of use on the card. The default text is auto-generated based on your card settings and includes variables. You can customize the text, but the variables should be left unchanged or removed entirely.

Tip: For membership cards, it's especially important to clearly describe your subscription terms and conditions to avoid regulatory issues. If you have a subscription agreement on your website, add the link in the Link to full terms and conditions field.

Enter your company name, email, and contact number. These details appear on the back of the card for customers who need support.

Once all details are filled in, click Finish.

After clicking Finish, the Preview popup appears.

Important: Before activating, you can issue up to 10 test cards. Once you activate the card, the main settings cannot be changed. You will see a list of locked settings in the activation window.

After activation, you can download promotional materials in PDF format (A5 or A4) for printing and placement at your business location.

Copy the card's installation link and share it on your website, social media, or in-store QR code. Customers open the link, choose their tier and billing period, enter their details, and subscribe through Stripe.

Important: Connect Mailgun and/or Twilio for messages to be delivered.

A promo code field is available on the membership card checkout page. Customers can click Add code and enter a valid promo code when subscribing.

To view statistics, go to the card template and navigate to the Information section. If payment collection via Stripe is enabled, you can view:

The payments section shows graphs for revenue generated, active members, LTV, new members, and churned members. You can filter by time period for more detailed insights. Below the graphs is a table of individual payments.

Yes. Set Collect payments to No in the settings. The membership card will be free — customers install the card immediately without being redirected to a payment page. You can still track visits through the scanner. If you want to accept cash payments, enable the Purchase amount when charging toggle so your staff can enter amounts manually. Setup takes about 5 minutes.

The card remains on the customer's phone but shows as invalid when scanned. If auto-renewal is enabled, Stripe automatically charges the customer and renews the membership. If auto-renewal is disabled, you can manually renew the membership in the customer's profile.

No. Once the card is activated, prices cannot be changed. Make sure your tier pricing is finalized before activating.

Check your membership tier settings. At least one tier must be active with a set price and limit. Make sure the tier is created, described, and has an active pricing option.