Should You Charge a Deposit for Laundry Loyalty Cards?

When a laundromat transitions to a loyalty card system, one of the first operational questions that comes up is whether or not customers should be charged a deposit for their card. Loyalty cards have a cost, and owners sometimes feel discouraged when they see cards discarded, left behind, or thrown away with only a few cents remaining.

This leads to a natural concern: should you require a card deposit to protect your investment?

Like many decisions in the laundry business, the answer depends on your market, your competitive environment, and how you want customers to experience your store.

The Case for Charging a Card Deposit

Many operators choose to charge a small fee — typically equivalent to the card’s cost — to eliminate the expense of constantly replacing lost or discarded cards. This can be a simple, effective strategy in markets with low competition or where customers already expect a deposit-based system.

A card deposit helps ensure:

• Customers value and retain their cards
• Lost cards are less frequent
• The store covers its hardware cost

The Case Against Charging a Deposit

On the other hand, some operators feel that requiring a card deposit creates a barrier to entry. If a customer perceives the card as an added cost just to do laundry, it can create friction or a sense of inconvenience.

In competitive markets — especially those with nearby coin-only stores — eliminating barriers can be important. Requiring a deposit may discourage customers who are unfamiliar with loyalty systems or who are hesitant to adopt a new way of paying.

For these owners, there are alternatives that reduce card waste without introducing a fee.

Using Loyalty Points to Encourage Customers to Keep Their Card

One strong alternative to deposits is a loyalty points program. This gives customers a reason to hold onto their card even when the balance is low.

For example:

• Customers earn points for every wash or dry
• Those points eventually convert into free wash credits
• A customer with only 10¢ left may have hundreds of loyalty points pending

Those pending rewards become the incentive to keep the card — turning what might have been a discarded card into a returning customer.

Are Card Costs Really a Financial Loss?

Another way to look at the issue is to compare the cost of the card to the value typically stored on it. In most laundromats, the average unused balance left behind on cards over time is far greater than the cost of the cards themselves.

That means even if a few cards are thrown away, the business may still come out ahead. Because of this, some operators decide not to worry about the occasional discarded card, focusing instead on overall customer experience and loyalty.

The Bottom Line

Charging a card deposit is a viable option, but not the only one — and certainly not required for a loyalty system to be profitable. Whether you choose to charge a deposit or not, the key is to make sure customers understand the benefit of keeping their card and returning to your store.

If you want to avoid adding barriers, a loyalty points system is an excellent strategy for encouraging customers to retain their cards without introducing extra fees. And in most cases, the remaining balances customers leave behind outweigh the cost of the cards, making free distribution a perfectly reasonable choice.

About CCI

For the past 25 years, Card Concepts Inc. (CCI) has helped over 4,000 laundromats automate operations, modernize payments, and maximize profit potential so owners can work on their business instead of in it.