Council votes to ban loyalty cards

CLARE shoppers may no longer have to hear the words ‘Do you have a loyalty card?’ as Clare County Council has taken a decision to amend its retail strategy and ban the use of loyalty cards in all shops in the county.

The proposed ban was tabled in a motion at Monday’s county council meeting where Green Party Councillor, Brian Meaney called for the authority to amend its retail strategy to prohibit loyalty cards. He also requested that the National Consumer Agency investigate the operation of these schemes.
The motion was submitted for adoption without discussion and was passed with just one dissenter.
Speaking after the meeting, Councillor Meaney explained why he tabled the motion. “We have to begin to question this constant bombarding of requests for loyalty cards from every shop you go into, specifically the large supermarket chains. We have to cut through the perceived benefits of them to us. They are nothing more than a means for the supermarkets and large retailers to drill down into the spending habits, tendencies and the decisions individuals make on a very personal level,” he said.
The Ennis councillor stressed he was specifically referring to “the electronic smartcard, that with one simple swipe they can divert a huge amount of information and record all your individual purchases on that date and how you paid for them”.
While Councillor Meaney made it clear after the meeting his intention is to target the larger business chains that operate smartcard loyalty cards, Councillor Johnny Flynn, who opposed the motion, said there is room for confusion.
“Unfortunately, the way that the notice of motion was worded was that the retail strategy would ban the use of loyalty cards in Clare and I feel this is discriminatory to Clare-based businesses. The loyalty card is a mechanism by which local small shops and Clare-based companies can reward their customers for being loyal to them and can acknowledge people’s commitment to trade with them. The business doesn’t have to take up the loyalty scheme and the customer doesn’t have to avail of it. It is an open-ended option to ensure the development of business. I see its banning as counter-productive,” Councillor Flynn outlined.
Councillor Meaney also claimed information required on application forms for these loyalty cards is a cause for concern. “I believe this is an intrusion and I think we have to begin to question the use of these loyalty cards. The perceived benefits are tangible and the intrusion on our personal freedom is unacceptable. I feel we are being used as unsuspecting guinea pigs. There’s a huge variety of software becoming available now where they can analyse people’s spending habits and I think we need to begin to question it,” he concluded.
Councillor Flynn said if the motion was narrowed down to cover larger multi-nationals then he could agree to an amended version.
“I do agree that the use of information by international companies to target their customers is something that the consumer authority needs to look at. I would be opposing the motion in its current format, which is too wide ranging. When it comes up for debate under the Clare regional strategy, I will be raising my concern,” he said.