Journeys & operations
The member journey
What a recipient actually experiences, from the first text to the register. Two journeys exist: digital and physical. They share the same activation idea and differ in delivery and refills.
The digital card journey
- An order sends the card. The member receives a link by text or email (the program's
CardSendLogicdecides which). - The member clicks the link. Clicking is activation. The clip funds, and the wallet opens showing the card and its offers.
- The member shops. They can scan products in the wallet to preview eligibility, then pay at the register with the barcode or PAN.
- InComm adjudicates each item at checkout. The outcome lands in our card events shortly after.
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Recurring digital benefits refill on click.
A new link arrives at the start of each month. The new cycle's offer is clipped when the member clicks it. A member who never clicks never gets the refill. See Recurring offers & the clip lifecycle.
The physical card journey
- The order enters the plastic queue (
physicalcardorders), goes to the print vendor in a batch file, and ships to the member's address. - The member activates in one of two ways: click the link (same as digital), or call the phone number printed on the card. Both paths fund the clip.
- Shopping and checkout work exactly like digital. The plastic carries the same PAN the wallet shows.
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Recurring physical benefits refill automatically.
Once a physical member has activated, later cycles re-clip without any member action (the program's auto-clip setting). The same plastic keeps working month after month.
Digital vs physical at a glance
| Digital | Physical | |
|---|---|---|
| Delivery | Link by text or email | Plastic by mail (print vendor batch) |
| Activation | Click the link | Click the link or call the number on the card |
| Monthly refill | Click the new month's link | Automatic re-clip |
| Either/Or choice | Made at activation, irreversible | Not available (either/or is digital-only) |
| Share of production | About 98% | About 2% |
Where journeys break
- The member never clicked this month's link. A recurring digital benefit funds only on that click. If the link went unclicked, there is nothing to debug; get the link back in front of the member.
- Two overlapping monthly cards can trigger the clip-deleted orphan. See the clip lifecycle.
- Scanner disagreements at Walmart paths are expected, not bugs. See the reliability table.
- Cashier handling is a big source of hard declines: InComm cards come with pedantic register instructions, and a cashier running the tender wrong fails the transaction. Other declines trace to the APL (item not eligible), a missing clip, or an issue on our side.
- Physical cards that never arrive: check the order's status and timestamps in
physicalcardorders.