The initiative has been devised by Reward, a company that specialises in loyalty activity for football clubs, and is backed by ID Data, which supplies cards for the Nectar loyalty scheme.
Reward is in discussion with several banks, and has signed up Lloyds TSB to participate in the system, which will recognise members via the payment card used at the point of sale.
Reward chief executive Gavin Dein said it was in talks about selling the service to retailers to use under their own banner. This would enable customers to accumulate points and exchange them for in-store discounts or other benefits.
Reward is backed by Vincent Tchenguiz, the brother and business associate of Robert Tchenguiz, who is a part-owner of Somerfield. Dein would not comment on whether the supermarket plans to use the cardless service as part of its Saver Card loyalty scheme.
Reward is also targeting retailers in the DIY, leisure and home entertainment sectors for a second cardless scheme that is being aimed at football fans. It will offer discounts on items sold by clubs.
DSGi, which owns Dixons and The Link, is believed to be one of the retailers in talks to participate in the scheme, a trial of which will be run by Aberdeen FC.
Reward, founded in 2001, runs an online version of the football scheme with retailers including Tesco.com and Thomas Cook.
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