Filed under: Software, Hacks, Tips and tricks, Odds and ends, iPhone
Scanning wallet cards into the iPhone
We've already heard of barcodes reading both on and off of the iPhone, of course, and we'll hopefully see more of this when the SDK drops in just about a month here (maybe, in the future, someone will write an app to generate barcodes from numbers, so you don't even need to get a clear scan). But even without an external app, this is pretty handy solution to clearing up some of the clutter in your wallet. Obviously, for anything important (driver's license, credit cards), an iPhone scan won't do. But just to get the membership prices down at the Jewel-Osco, scanning wallet cards into an iPhone seems to work just fine. Very nice.
[via Waxy]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lior said 11:12AM on 5-14-2008
There is only one problem.
It is much easier to fake an image than it is to fake a card.
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Noal said 11:14AM on 5-14-2008
Anyone tried this with an Albertson's preferred card or an LA fitness pass? I'm kind of embarrased to walk up to the lady at the front desk and flash my iPhone...Ecspecially if it doesn't work! :/
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Ryan Trevisol said 11:18AM on 5-14-2008
I can't imagine a lot of places like Costco accepting this. Albertson's, CVS, LA Fitness I can see. But anything more restrictive than that, i don't know.
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kaching said 11:31AM on 5-14-2008
I tried this at a Best Buy last night for an in-store pickup, with what appeared to be a nice large, clean barcode on the iPhone screen. Their scanner wouldn't pick it up though. How reliably does this work for people who have tried it?
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davidwells said 7:17PM on 5-14-2008
Tried at the local library last night... no worky either. Think the screen is too shiny to 'see' the barcode ;(
Pugho said 11:47AM on 5-14-2008
Add'l tech to keep in mind, these cards sometimes have a mag stripe which must be read-in by company reader.
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matt said 11:39AM on 5-14-2008
I use my iphone for checking in at the airport... Continental Airlines reader sees the barcode and I check my bags and print the boarding pass. I still need the paper part to get past the TSA security check, but Im not looking through my briefcase to find my boarding pass when Im in a hurry.
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Blaktornado said 11:46AM on 5-14-2008
Well use common sense and just take your real one as well for the first few times. Then leave it at home when you know it definitely works.
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Galley said 12:09PM on 5-14-2008
I keep cards like that in my glove compartment. I like to keep my wallet as slim as possible
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krye said 12:12PM on 5-14-2008
If the scan doesn't show up on the phone as actual size, I can't see it working, and like it's been said before, I can't see a lot of places considering this legit.
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DistortedLoop said 12:35PM on 5-14-2008
"if the scan doesn't show up as actual size..."
Not necessarily something to keep it from working. If it's just scanning a barcode, any decent barcode scanner will be flexible, to some extent, on the size of the barcode. Just think about it...if they weren't, then every card that is scanned that way would have to be held at PRECISELY the same distance and angle each time to get a scan. Since scanners don't require that kind of accuracy, it shouldn't be an issue.
iBSOD for iPhone said 12:11PM on 5-14-2008
make sure the store will accept the scanned card! you'll be shooting yourself on the foot if you scanned all these membership cards while they don't accept them...
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BabyGotMac said 12:11PM on 5-14-2008
Great idea. This could be handy for grocery stores, etc.
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DistortedLoop said 12:27PM on 5-14-2008
Man, this idea is like 11 months old, LOL. I did this with things like my insurance card and other similar items the weekend I got my iPhone last June.
Amusingly, when I got the Apple $100 "rebate" thing for the price drop on early buyers of the phone, the first thing I did was send the PDF of the coupon to my iPhoto as a picture. When I tried to apply the credit, the Apple scanner at the Apple Store could not scan the barcode.
As far as CVS and grocery stores - don't they all just use your phone number? All of mine locally (CVS, Savon, Albertsons, Vons, Ralphs, etc) do. I just key or speak my phone number at check out - a bit more handy than pulling out the wallet, or even the iPhone.
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Rand said 8:38PM on 5-14-2008
And some of us were doing it on your other phones long before that, but bringing it to the masses doesnt hurt..
Coming off self important doesnt help anyone.
DistortedLoop said 10:58PM on 5-14-2008
@Rand- spoken from the lofty heights of self rightousness, no doubt.
Jake said 1:01PM on 5-14-2008
Yep, I shoulda thought of that before. I have scanned and printed my loyalty cards for years to keep down the bulk. This way the paper won't wear out!
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Pugho said 2:07PM on 5-14-2008
It is a great idea though for companies to provide a downloadable electronic iPhone card.
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Will said 2:58PM on 5-14-2008
I think I will wait till remote wipe is enabled before I try this.
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livepulse said 3:01PM on 5-14-2008
why use a dutch swimming-membershipcard?
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