Stampt hopes to digitize local loyalty cards

Apps that digitize the plethora of shopper reward cards have been around since the App Store launched, and Auntie TUAW recommended a couple back in June. But, what about the paper or cardboard slips handed out by the local mom-and-pop businesses? The beloved, and quite often stained, cards that offer a free cup of coffee after we buy seven? Stampt aims to digitize those.

With Stampt, if you go to a business that's signed up for the service, instead of hunting through your wallet for the right loyalty card, launch the app and scan a "Stampt Quick Scan" card that the business has. The app ties into your Facebook and Twitter accounts so your friends can see when and where you used the app. Like with FourSquare, businesses can enable special offers to customers who use Stampt.

Basic services for merchants is free, and currently premium service fees are waived for the first 1,000 merchants to sign up with Stampt. For customers, download the free app from the App Store. When you launch the app, a map will pop up showing all businesses within a 100-mile radius that accept Stampt (unfortunately for me, there are none in Harrisburg, PA).

I hope that local merchants will be drawn to Stampt, easing the clutter in my wallet. As fellow TUAW staffer Steve Sande lamented, he wished he had Stampt before reviewing BookBook for the iPhone.