As we prepare to gather in my home city of Glasgow for STC25 to explore how investment and innovation can deliver sustainable economic growth for towns and cities across the country, I’m taking a moment to look back at all that has been achieved with the trailblazing Scotland Loves Local Gift Card to date, and how digital cards can be used to disburse funds at scale, support people in need and reward hard working teams.
There’s a world of opportunity in how we can harness the power of Scotland’s own Gift Card to help build resilient, inclusive and liveable places to drive Scotland’s economy for the next generation. Since the launch of the Scotland Loves Local Gift Card in 2021, an extraordinary £16m has been locked into the country through the initiative. Around 7,000 businesses across Scotland accept the card. Each one of the many thousands of Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards that have been spent to date has delivered a tangible boost to our Scottish towns and cities, helping businesses both big and small keep their doors open, employ local people, and contribute to the vibrancy of Scotland.
Last year, there was significant development with the launch of digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards, which the recipient can add to their digital wallet, ready to ‘tap to pay’ with local businesses. This advancement also heralds an opportunity for local authorities to disburse funds digitally. With this new technology, there is the ability to send digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards to multiple recipients on a specified date/time, greatly reducing the administration involved in sending physical cards by post. The ability to disburse digital cards with ease makes supporting residents, and supporting local, simple. To make it even easier, Miconex is waiving the fees on corporate digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards purchased between now and Christmas, saving 99p per card.
With the advent of digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards, disbursal of digital funds is possible at scale across Scotland for the first time, for a wide range of use cases. In 2022, as the cost of living crisis took hold, 6 local authorities used the physical Scotland Loves Local Gift Card to distribute LACER funding, providing targeted support for businesses and communities. A disbursal initiative in Glasgow saw £8.9 million distributed to 85,000 recipients. £1.9 million was distributed in Aberdeen, £1.13 million in Aberdeenshire, £472,000 in East Renfrewshire, £495,000 in South Ayrshire and £798,960 in Argyll and Bute. With the arrival of digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards, we’ve built on the game-changing ability to distribute physical cards to large numbers of people with the option to do this digitally, and in doing so, unlocked huge new potential for the initiative to drive positive change in our communities.
As we approach the festive season, it’s worthwhile considering how digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards can support families in need at Christmas. In the past, East Ayrshire, an early adopter of the disbursal concept, distributed the East Ayrshire Gift Card to families in receipt of free school meals within Christmas food boxes, supporting families with dignity while aiding community regeneration. With a digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Card in their pocket, distributed digitally just in time for Christmas, families could buy the clothes, food and toys they needed to ensure children don’t go without at Christmas.
Another key usage of Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards is to reward and thank staff. In the past, we’ve seen the positive economic impact across local businesses of local authorities using their regional physical card to reward NHS staff. The advent of digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Card and the ability to easily send a digital card to multiple staff members on a specific day/time, with a personalised message, reduces the administration of rewarding staff significantly. The zero fees on digital orders between now and Christmas makes choosing digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards an easy choice – certainly a cost effective one too in comparison to the fees of other multi-use Gift Cards – and of course, ensures that the money invested in rewarding staff is locked into the local economy
Disbursal of funds, employee rewards, thanking volunteers, research incentives, competition prizes, rewards to reinforce positive behaviour. The opportunities for using digital Scotland Loves Local Gift Cards this festive season and beyond are innumerable. What is clear is that in this card, our own Gift Card for Scotland, we have a platform to deliver sustainable economic growth which will ultimately help us to build resilient, inclusive and liveable places for the future of Scotland.
David O’Neil, Chief Customer Officer, Miconex
