With the increased number of communities and conversion to the digital in all aspects, electronic membership cards have been on the rise thanks to their countless benefits. Electronic cards make membership management much easier, are convenient to use, and produce no waste especially compared to physical cards. Check out this article to learn more about what electronic membership cards are, why they are important, and how you can create them for your community with Raklet.
What Are Electronic Membership Cards?
Electronic membership cards are the digital versions of physical cards that show a person’s membership status and connection to a certain organization, community, group, etc. These organizations and communities may vary in size and interests, from a local church group to a global professionals club. According to the different branding and needs, these cards have varying designs and information. Digital membership cards come with a URL, QR code, or website connection to be able to share and connect online.
What Information Should Be on a Membership Card?
Since various organizations use electronic membership cards for their communities, the information on a membership card changes according to the needs, interests, and format of the card. Although the membership card visual may contain only the basic information such as the name and photo of the member, the embedded QR code or URL may lead to more detailed information about the membership. Of course, you can customize all these fields according to your organization’s needs. Let’s explore some of the most popular information that should be on a membership card:
- Name and surname of the member
- Photo of the member
- Contact information of the member
- Brand logo and name
- Brand colors and design
- QR code
Why Are Electronic Membership Cards Important?
With the constant improvements in the digital world, physical membership cards have become less popular and have been replaced with electronic membership cards. There are several reasons for switching from physical cards to electronic ones for your organization. Let’s see three reasons why electronic membership cards are important:
1. Environmentally friendly
Since no raw materials such as paper or plastic are used to create an electronic membership card, the digital versions are much more environmentally friendly than traditional physical membership cards. Especially if your community members are highly conscious of your brand’s environmental effects and carbon footprint, switching to electronic cards is a great step toward your environmentally friendly goals.
If you would like to see how using an electronic membership card comes as an eco-friendly solution, you can read our related blog article: Using a Digital Membership Card: An Eco-Friendly Solution.
2. Security
One of the biggest differences between physical and electronic membership cards is that physical ones lead to transporting memberships to other people and increase the chances of loss and theft. Since physical membership cards are tangible items that the members carry around with them, the possibility of leaving the card somewhere or having it stolen is much higher. However, electronic cards are much more secure with integrations such as two-factor authentication.
3. Flexibility
Another benefit of electronic membership cards is how easily they can be updated. Whenever your members change their contact information or update their membership plan, you do not need to create and print new physical membership cards. Instead, you can simply update this information on the database, and the electronic membership card will automatically get updated without any waste of resources.
Similarly, members are also more flexible with their cards since they do not have to physically carry them around. These cards are accessible regardless of the location and time, they can be added to digital wallets or mobile apps, which increases the overall flexibility.
4. Budget-friendly
Physical membership cards require to be designed, printed, and transported professionally one by one, which all leads to waste of resources such as excess paper usage and budget issues. Electronic membership cards come in handy by allowing almost minimum resource usage and having budget-friendly options such as membership management software that will take care of the design process. You can explore how to create an electronic membership card using such software in the following steps.
| Electronic membership cards | Physical membership cards | |
| Eco-friendly | ✓ | X |
| Highly secure | ✓ | X |
| Flexible | ✓ | X |
| Budget-friendly | ✓ | X |
How to Create an Electronic Membership Card?
Having learned about what electronic membership cards are and their extensive benefits, you can now explore how to create your own cards for your community. The methods to create an electronic membership card vary from designing your own from online templates to hiring a graphic designer. However, our recommendation is to use membership management software that contains all the features you will need and serves as a cheaper and more convenient alternative to these methods.
Membership management software removes the burden of manually creating every card when using an online template. Using such software is also cheaper by having all-in-one services rather than hiring a professional graphic designer. Furthermore, customizations are available with specific software.
We recommend Raklet, an all-in-one membership management software that lets you create electronic membership cards like the one below. Raklet automates many processes for you such as creating a contacts database, updating the contact information, creating a community platform, collecting membership fees, and many more. Since all the information and different features are integrated all together, managing your community with Raklet is very convenient and cost-efficient.
Raklet allows for a wide range of customizations to create personalized cards. Moreover, the built-in QR codes are convenient while creating events and managing check-in and attendance information.
Schedule a demo with us to learn more about Raklet, and how it can help your business thrive.
Now, it’s your turn!
If you would like to provide the benefits of electronic membership cards to your community members as well, you have come to the right place! You can explore Raklet’s features in detail, and see the opportunities offered with electronic membership cards. You can easily contact us by booking a free demo and learning more in one-to-one calls!
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