A QR code on a membership card is doing one of two very different jobs, and bodies rarely decide which. It is either a shortcut to a page, in which case it is a convenience, or it is a lookup against the record, in which case it is the proof itself and the printed card is decoration. The difference decides what happens when a member lapses, whether the person on the door needs a phone, and whether a photographed card can be reused by somebody else. This page is about making membership cards for a phone in a way that survives all three questions.
What the code should point at
A QR code that opens the body's home page is a convenience. A QR code that opens a page showing this member, this tier and this expiry, generated from the record at the moment it is opened, is proof, and it is the only version that stops working when the membership does. The second costs no more to issue and is the whole reason to put a code on a card at all.
Virtual, electronic, mobile: the same card, three words
Virtual membership cards, electronic membership cards and a mobile membership card are the same thing described by different vendors, and none of the words tells you the thing that matters, which is whether the card is issued from the record. Ask that question rather than comparing the words. A body that gets a clear answer can ignore the vocabulary entirely.
What the door actually needs
The person checking has seconds and often no equipment. In practice that means the card must be readable by eye, with the expiry large enough to see, and checkable by phone when it matters. Bodies that design for the scanner alone end up with a door that stops working when the wifi does; bodies that design for the eye alone cannot catch a photographed card. Both, in that order, is the answer for almost every club.
Questions people ask about qr code membership card
How do I create membership cards with a QR code?
Issue them from the record rather than a design tool: the code carries an identifier that opens the member's current status. Making membership cards this way means a lapsed membership shows as lapsed the next time the code is opened, which a printed batch cannot do.
Can somebody photograph a card and reuse it?
Yes, and that is the limit of any card as proof. A code that resolves to the live record limits the damage, because a lapsed or duplicated membership shows up when it is checked, but a body that needs strong proof needs a photograph on the card as well.
Does an online membership card work without signal?
The eye-readable half does. A code that resolves live needs a connection, which is why the expiry and tier should be legible on the card itself and the code should be the second line of defence rather than the only one.
Is a wallet pass better than a link?
It is nicer for the member and more work for you. A link is always current; a pass sitting in a wallet needs updating when the membership changes. Start with the link, add passes if members ask.