# Digitise a paper gift voucher — your own voucher, digital

 From paper to digital

# Your voucher works. It can simply do much more

You do not have to scrap a paper gift voucher. A digital version can sit right next to it: one voucher carrying any amount, deducted with a scan at the till, under your own name and with the money in your own account.

 [Schedule a call](https://mijnevent.nl/en/contact) [See the module](https://mijnevent.nl/en/modules/city-cards) 

  Short answer

## What does digitising a paper gift voucher actually mean?

Digitising a paper voucher means the value no longer sits on a numbered slip of paper but as a balance behind a unique code. The buyer picks any amount instead of choosing from fixed denominations, the voucher can be spent in parts because the remainder stays put, and the shopkeeper deducts by scanning a QR code instead of collecting paper and posting it off. With MijnEvent it stays your voucher: your name, your logo and your colours on the purchase and balance pages, in the emails and on the pass in Apple or Google Wallet. Residents pay with iDEAL | Wero straight into your own Mollie account — MijnEvent never holds the balance at any point. Your existing points of sale and a physical card may simply stay.

# In short

- Digitising is not a replacement for your voucher but an extension: same name, same participants, same issuer.
- Fixed denominations are no longer needed — alongside four familiar amounts the buyer types in any amount from €5.00 to €150.00.
- Whatever is not spent stays on the voucher as a balance, including at the next shop. No more "then find something to make up the difference" at the till.
- The shopkeeper scans a QR code and deducts the amount. Collecting, voiding, bundling and posting disappears; what each shop is owed is visible live.
- Selling online sits alongside the counter: around the clock, delivered by email, and instantly transferable as a gift to someone else.
- The money is in your own Mollie account from the first second. There is no central pot at the platform that could collapse.

   Current practice

## How a paper voucher usually works today

Almost every local voucher follows the same pattern. Not because someone designed it that way, but because there are a few things paper simply cannot do.

 The vouchers we come across at retailers' associations, town centre management, tourist offices and municipalities look remarkably alike. They work — plenty of money is spent locally with them every year — but the way they work is dictated entirely by the fact that value sits on a slip of paper. Recognise three or more of these, and this page was written for you.

## Fixed denominations

The voucher exists in a handful of fixed values — often two to seven, somewhere between €5 and €25. An amount in between does not exist, so a forty-euro gift becomes a small stack of slips. The range is never long enough and always too long to stay manageable.

## Small denominations for a reason

Where the vouchers are small — five euros apiece — that is usually deliberate: no change is given, so a large denomination would cost the recipient money. The small value protects the recipient, and produces the stack at the same time.

## Spend it all in one go

The voucher has to be redeemed in a single transaction. Someone paying €21 with a €25 voucher leaves the difference behind at the shop. Awkward for the customer and uncomfortable for the shopkeeper, who has to explain it.

## Only sold over the counter

You can buy it at a handful of physical outlets: an information point, the tourist office, a bookshop, a tobacconist. During opening hours. Anyone needing a gift on a Sunday evening for the next day buys something else.

## Security paper with numbering

Every voucher is uniquely numbered and has to be printed, counted and stored safely. Often there is a control stub the shopkeeper tears off as proof on redemption. Lose a voucher or put it through the wash, and the money is gone.

## Collect, bundle, post

The shopkeeper takes the voucher in, voids it, keeps it and hands it in — in a deposit envelope or with a form listing shop name, quantity and bank account. Payment follows afterwards, administratively, once processing is done.

## Corporate orders by hand

An employer thanking a hundred staff gets a hundred packets assembled by hand: counting vouchers, putting them in a printed envelope, setting them aside for collection at one of the outlets. Every year again, in the same busy weeks.

## One expiry date for everything

All vouchers expire on the same date, no matter when they were bought. A voucher bought in November runs with the round that ends in October — exactly the conversation nobody wants to have at the till.

## A QR code that deducts nothing

Some vouchers already carry a QR code, but it points to the list of participating shops. It shows where you can spend it, not what is left on it, and certainly not what was just taken off.

## Participants known by the sticker

Whoever joins puts a sticker in the window. That works, but the current list lives on a page someone maintains by hand — and a new participant only appears once that someone gets round to it.

   What changes

## Every drawback of paper, and what digital puts in its place

Nothing in this list is a criticism of the paper voucher. It is precisely the list of things paper cannot do, and digital can.

## The amount

 On paperFixed denominations mean stacking. Every amount has to exist as a separate slip, and anyone wanting an in-between amount chooses between too little and too much.

 DigitalAlongside four familiar amounts (€10, €25, €50 and €100) there is an 'Other amount' field: the buyer types in any amount from €5.00 to €150.00. One voucher instead of a stack — familiar for those who like that, free for those who do not.

## Partial spending

 On paperThe voucher is used up in one go. Whatever is not spent stays with the shopkeeper, because no change is given.

 DigitalOnly what is spent gets deducted. The remainder stays on the voucher as a balance, including when the customer walks on to the next shop. That also removes the reason for keeping denominations small.

## Settling up at the till

 On paperTake in, void, store, bundle in a deposit envelope or form and post. Work for the shopkeeper and for the issuer, and it takes until the administration is done.

 DigitalThe shopkeeper scans the QR code or types in the code, sees the balance and deducts an amount. Three actions at the till, no extra hardware and no till integration. Redeeming twice is technically impossible.

## Paying out the shops

 On paperPayout is an administrative round: counting what came in, matching it to the right shop and bank account, and transferring. Until that round is done, nobody knows exactly what is outstanding.

 DigitalThe admin shows live per shop what has been deducted and what needs paying out. You compose a round, download the SEPA payment file and import it at your own bank. The self-billed invoice is drawn up on each shop's behalf and sent along.

## Where the voucher is sold

 On paperYou buy it over the counter at an outlet, during opening hours. That outlet is also the face of the voucher.

 DigitalOnline purchase is added underneath: any time of day, paid with iDEAL | Wero, delivered straight to the inbox and instantly sendable as a gift. The existing outlets simply remain outlets.

## Lost is lost

 On paperSecurity paper has to be printed, counted and stored safely. A voucher that gets lost or damaged is money gone — and that cannot be repaired.

 DigitalThe code sits inside the voucher itself. A voucher linked to an email address can be frozen by the holder: the balance stays put and you release it again after checking. Want something tangible anyway, then your own printer produces the card and MijnEvent supplies the codes as a print file.

## Validity

 On paperAll vouchers expire on one date, regardless of when they were bought. The November voucher runs with last year's round.

 DigitalEvery issue round gets its own validity period. Topping up also reactivates an empty or expired voucher and extends its validity — at no cost to the holder.

## Corporate orders

 On paperPackets for staff and business relations are assembled by hand and set aside for collection. A hundred thank-yous are the same manual job a hundred times.

 DigitalA corporate order goes out in one go, with a voucher per employee or relation by name. If it has to stay tangible, the festive packaging simply stays — with a printed card inside instead of a stack of slips.

## Visitors from elsewhere

 On paperThe voucher is a local product in Dutch, sold at the very place tourists walk into.

 DigitalThe purchase and balance pages are also available in German and English, and the voucher name and description can be translated per language. A hotel, campsite or holiday park can hand the voucher to guests, and those guests spend that money in your own centre.

## Seeing what happens

 On paperHow much is outstanding, where it is spent and which months are busy can be derived from the administration — afterwards, by hand.

 DigitalThe admin shows live what has been sold, what is still outstanding, what has been spent per shop and what needs paying out. That doubles as the account you give to your board, audit committee or council.

   Step by step

## From paper voucher to digital voucher

Six steps. The technology is not the slowest part — that is usually your own decision-making and connecting the shops.

  1

### Keep the name you have

The name of the voucher is the only real capital on the table: residents know it, shopkeepers already have the sticker in the window. That name carries over one to one. It drives all the wording on the page, in the emails and on the pass in the phone — you never have to explain anything twice.

   2

### Set the amount and the validity

The purchase page offers four familiar amounts plus a free amount from €5.00 to €150.00; anyone wanting to give more buys several vouchers. What you set yourself is the validity period — 24 months by default. That is the whole set-up on the value side.

   3

### Put your branding on it

Logo, header photo of your own town centre, brand colours and fonts. The public purchase and balance pages pick that up directly, as do the emails and the pass in Apple or Google Wallet. Sponsors and participating shops appear with their own logos.

   4

### Connect your own Mollie account

Payments run through your own Mollie account and land in your own bank account. No Mollie yet? You create that account from within MijnEvent. From that moment every euro goes straight to you.

   5

### Connect the shops

Usually exactly the same shops that are on your participant list today. Each shop gets an email invitation, sets its own PIN and can scan straight away — no hardware, no installation, no till integration. The participant list on the public page keeps itself up to date.

   6

### Put it next to the paper voucher

Paper vouchers in circulation simply stay valid until their expiry date. The digital version sits alongside and the outlets sell both. Once the paper stock runs down, the question is what you reprint — not what you abolish.

The set-up itself usually takes half a day. What determines the lead time is connecting the shops and your own decision-making: a board meeting, a members' meeting or a council decision.

   What you gain

## What gets better, for all three parties

For the buyer, for the shopkeeper and for you as the issuer. If it only improves for one of the three, it is not worth doing.

## The buyer picks their own amount

No more choosing between too little and too much, and no stack of slips for one gift. Buying is possible at any time, and the voucher can be put in someone else's name in a single action.

## The recipient keeps the remainder

Whatever is not spent stays put for the next shop or the next time. The balance can be checked on your own page, and after every purchase the remainder lands in the inbox automatically.

## The shopkeeper is done in three actions

Scan, enter the amount, deduct. No storing vouchers, no envelopes, no form with a bank account on it. What is owed is visible live on their own screen.

## Payout is a round, not a puzzle

Select, download the SEPA file, import it at your own bank. Self-billed invoices are drawn up on the shops' behalf and sent along; you are left with one summary per round for the books.

## No more managing security paper

Nothing to print, count or keep in a safe, and no numbered stock that can go missing. Want a physical card anyway, then that is a choice rather than a requirement.

## Sales outside opening hours

The purchase page is open around the clock, including in the weeks when the outlets are busy. And it can be placed on your own website with a single line of code.

## Insight into what is happening

What has been sold, what is outstanding, where it is spent and what needs paying out per shop — live, and directly usable as the account you give your board or council.

## The money stays local

That was always the reason for a local voucher. Digital changes nothing about it: every euro remains spendable at the same shops, only with less friction along the way.

    Your name## It stays your voucher, not a platform's

As far as the resident is concerned, nothing here should look like MijnEvent. The name that has been on it for years stays on it; your logo sits top left in the header, your colours and fonts drive the entire page, and the header photo is of your own town centre. The pass in Apple or Google Wallet carries your name and logo — no platform card sitting between the flight tickets and the loyalty cards.

- Name, logo, header photo, brand colours and fonts are yours to set; the public page, the emails and the wallet pass pick that up directly.
- You write the emails to voucher holders yourself: subject, greeting, body, sign-off and your own attachment. The sender reads "your organisation via MijnEvent" and replies come to you.
- Sponsors and participating shops appear on the page with their own logos.
- The voucher can be placed on your own website with a single line of code, in the same branding and without creating duplicate content against your own page.
- By default the page lives on its own subdomain and carries one small "Powered by MijnEvent" badge at the bottom. A fully own domain name and an environment without any platform reference belong to the white-label option: bespoke, on request.

What we supply is software. The voucher stays yours — including who is allowed to take part, what terms apply and what happens to a remainder.

   Where the money sits

## In your own account, from the very first euro

This is the question that belongs at the top of every set of requirements after the Groupcard bankruptcy: not which features a platform has, but whose account the balance sits in between purchase and spending. With a paper voucher that money always sat with the issuer. Digitising need not change that — and with MijnEvent it does not.

  1

### The buyer pays

Payment is made with iDEAL | Wero, and that amount lands straight in your own Mollie account and from there in your own bank account. Mollie is a payment service provider regulated by the Dutch central bank.

   2

### MijnEvent takes only its fee

We settle nothing but our module fee through Mollie. We never hold the balance itself: there is no pooled account and no intermediary foundation.

   3

### The shop deducts

Only at the moment of deduction does that shop's claim arise. The admin shows per shop what has been spent and what still needs paying out.

   4

### You pay out

From your own account, with a SEPA payment file you import at your own bank. MijnEvent draws up the self-billed invoice on each shop's behalf and emails it along; the money goes straight from you to the shop.

The honest downside: because the money sits with you, you also do the payouts. Your treasurer gains a recurring task. In return you never have to wait and see what someone else does with your money — and a platform bankruptcy cannot touch the value of the vouchers, because the platform never held that value.

Vouchers like these generally fall under the limited network exclusion in PSD2 and the Dutch Financial Supervision Act, with an obligation to notify the Dutch central bank once spending value exceeds €1 million per twelve months. That applied to the paper voucher and applies to the digital version in the same way. This is general information, not legal advice: have it checked by a lawyer or put it to the regulator before you start.

    Paper may stay## Digital is an extension, not a farewell

The most frequently asked question: do we then have to drop the paper? No. The transition that works best in practice is no transition at all — the digital version sits alongside and the paper voucher fades out at its own pace, or simply stays.

- Paper vouchers in circulation stay valid until their own expiry date. Nothing has to be recalled or exchanged.
- The existing outlets stay outlets and can sell both versions. For anyone who prefers buying something tangible, nothing changes.
- Want to keep something tangible, then your own printer produces the cards — the one round the corner, the one you already work with. MijnEvent supplies the codes as a print file; we do not sell cards.
- A physical card works without an email address and without an account: the shop scans the QR code or types in the code. Anyone who does leave an email address gets the remaining balance emailed after every purchase.

That also keeps the decision small: you do not have to choose between what works and what could be better. You put it alongside and watch what buyers themselves do in the first season.

   What it costs

## Public rates, and never a percentage of the value

You know up front what you pay. What is on the vouchers is and stays yours.

  €499 per year

### Set-up and use

Temporary promotional price; normally €1,250 per year. Includes your own programme, branding, public page and the scan app for every participating shop.

   €0.35 per voucher

### Per voucher issued or topped up

From 10,000 vouchers in twelve months €0.28, from 50,000 €0.21 — bespoke above that. A rolling twelve-month window, not a calendar year.

   €0.05 per redemption

### Borne by the shop

Settled against the payout to the shop where the voucher was redeemed: ten redemptions means €0.50 less paid out.

On top of that Mollie charges its own transaction fees on the payments; those run directly through your own Mollie account. Set that against what printing, counting, envelopes and administrative processing cost you today — that is the comparison that counts.

 [See all rates](https://mijnevent.nl/en/pricing)   Frequently asked questions

## Frequently asked questions about digitising a voucher

## Do we have to abolish our paper voucher?

  No. The digital version sits alongside it: vouchers in circulation stay valid until their expiry date, and the outlets can sell both. In practice, after one season the question is not "what do we abolish" but "what do we still reprint".

## Do we keep our own name and branding?

  Yes, and that is exactly the point: the name residents and shopkeepers already know is the capital on the table. That name drives all the wording on the page, in the emails and on the pass in the phone. Logo, header photo, brand colours and fonts are yours to set. By default one small "Powered by MijnEvent" badge sits at the bottom; if you want that trace gone too, the white-label option is what you are after — bespoke, on request.

## Where does the money from sold vouchers end up?

  In your own Mollie account and from there in your own bank account, from the very first euro. MijnEvent settles only its module fee and never holds the balance. There is no pooled account and no intermediary foundation, so there is no central pot that could collapse.

## Do the shops need new equipment or a till integration?

  No. Each shop gets a scan app that runs on the phone or tablet already on the counter, with its own email address and PIN. Scan the QR code or type in the code, see the balance, deduct an amount. No hardware, no installation, no integration with the till system.

## Can a customer spend part of their voucher?

  Yes, and that is the biggest difference from paper. Only what is spent is deducted and the remainder stays on the voucher as a balance — including at a different shop, and at a different time. That immediately removes the reason for keeping denominations small.

## What if someone has no smartphone?

  Then a physical card or a printed voucher works just as well: the shop scans the QR code or types in the code. No account and no email address needed. Anyone who does leave an email address gets the remaining balance emailed automatically after every purchase.

## Can we still issue a physical card?

  Yes. Your own printer produces the cards — the same printer you already work with — and MijnEvent supplies the codes as a print file. We do not sell cards and do not sit between you and your printer.

## What happens if someone loses their voucher?

  With paper, lost really is lost. Digitally the holder can freeze a voucher linked to their email address themselves with one button: the balance stays put and you release it again after checking.

## How do the participating shops get paid?

  The admin shows live per shop what has been deducted and what needs paying out. You compose a payout round, download the SEPA payment file and import it at your own bank; MijnEvent draws up the self-billed invoice on each shop's behalf and emails it along. The money goes straight from your account to the shop.

## Can we still sell vouchers to businesses?

  Yes, and it gets easier. An order for staff or business relations goes out in one go, with a voucher per person by name. If it has to stay tangible, the festive packaging stays — with a printed card inside instead of a stack of slips.

## Do we as the issuer need a licence?

  Usually not: vouchers like these generally fall under the limited network exclusion in PSD2 and the Dutch Financial Supervision Act, with an obligation to notify the Dutch central bank once spending value exceeds €1 million per twelve months. That already applied to the paper voucher. This is general information, not legal advice — have it checked by a lawyer or put it to the regulator before you start.

## How long before we are live?

  The programme itself is set up in half a day: name, branding, amounts and validity. The lead time usually sits in connecting the shops and in your own decision-making — a board or members' meeting, or a council decision.

## Can the buyer choose their own amount, or only fixed ones?

  Both. The purchase page shows four familiar amounts — €10, €25, €50 and €100 — plus an "Other amount" option with an input field. There the buyer types any amount between €5.00 and €150.00, including €17.50. Anyone wanting to give more buys several vouchers. That free amount is exactly what a paper denomination can never do.

## How much can a single voucher hold?

  €150.00, and that ceiling applies after topping up as well: a top-up that would exceed it is refused, with a message stating the current balance. For larger gifts the giver buys several vouchers — they can be spent and given separately.

## How long is a digital voucher valid?

  24 months by default, and you set that validity period per programme. Each voucher gets its own expiry date from the moment it is issued, so a voucher bought in November does not run with a round that ended in October. Before a voucher expires the holder automatically receives a reminder email with a top-up link; topping up reactivates an empty or expired voucher and extends its validity, at no cost to the holder.

## What happens to vouchers that are never redeemed?

  For as long as a voucher is valid, the balance belongs to the holder. MijnEvent takes nothing off it and never holds the money: it sits in your own account from the moment of purchase. What happens to a remainder after the expiry date is your own policy and your own accounting question — it was no different with a paper voucher. The admin shows what is still outstanding at any moment, so you can reconcile it against your bank balance.

## How does VAT work on a gift voucher?

  That is a question for your accountant: for tax purposes it matters whether a voucher only fits offerings at a single VAT rate (VAT on sale) or offerings at different rates (VAT on spending). MijnEvent does not choose that treatment for you, but supports it: per programme you set which document is drawn up on the shops' behalf — a self-billed invoice or a payment statement — and at which VAT rate.

## Can several villages or towns issue one voucher together?

  Yes. Participating businesses are not tied to a single place: a regional voucher with shops from five villages is technically the same construction as a voucher for one shopping street. One programme, one name, one participant list — and the credit is spendable at every connected business, whichever village it sits in.

## What if a participating shop closes?

  You set that participant to inactive. It disappears from the public participant list and can no longer deduct anything. Amounts it deducted before that go into the next payout round as usual. The balance on residents' vouchers is untouched: that credit sits with you and can be spent at any other connected shop.

## How do you stop a code being used twice?

  The balance sits centrally, not on the slip of paper. Every purchase deducts from that one balance, so a copied or photographed code gains nothing: once the balance is gone, there is nothing left to deduct. Every redemption is recorded with shop, amount and time, and a holder who linked their voucher to an email address can freeze it with one button — the balance then stays put until you release the voucher again.

## What if a shop has no internet connection at that moment?

  The scanning app works online: it fetches the current balance and writes the purchase away immediately. That is exactly what makes double redemption impossible. If the connection drops in the shop, the shopkeeper can deduct on any other connected device — their own phone on mobile data will do. Offline deduction is deliberately not possible: the same balance could then be spent in two places at once.

## Can we put the voucher on our own website?

  Yes, with a single line of code: an empty block carrying the data-mijnevent-citycard attribute where the voucher should appear, plus our script at the bottom of the page. That widget holds the whole shopfront — buying, checking a balance and topping up — in your own branding. If your CMS does not allow scripts, there is an iframe variant with the same content. Only paying opens in a new tab, because payment pages cannot be shown in an iframe.

## Can we see what happens per shop?

  Yes, live: per shop what has been deducted, what still needs paying out and what earlier rounds already paid. Those same figures are the account you give your board, audit committee or council. With a paper voucher that information only became available once the envelopes had been counted and processed.

## Can we leave and take our data with us?

  Yes. The money already sits with you, so nothing has to be retrieved — that is precisely the difference from a card network that manages the balance. Data on vouchers, spending and payouts can be exported, and holders can request or delete their own data. There is no technical barrier built in to stop you leaving.

## Does the same voucher work as an allowance, for informal carers or a low-income scheme?

  Yes, and it is one of the most common uses: you put an amount on the voucher and hand it to the group you define. The voucher is then an allowance that can only be spent locally, and therefore stays local. Automatic eligibility checks belong to the discount-pass extension launching this year.

## What does this cost compared with our paper voucher?

  A limited-time €499 per year (regular €1,250) plus €0.35 per voucher issued or topped up; from 10,000 vouchers in twelve months €0.28, and from 50,000 €0.21. On top of that €0.05 per redemption, carried by the shop that redeems. Never a percentage of the value of the vouchers. Set that against what printing on security paper, counting, envelopes, outlet arrangements and administrative processing cost you today — that is the comparison that counts.

   Further reading

## More about local vouchers and passes

 [ **City pass, town voucher or local gift card** The landing page for issuers, including the lesson of the Groupcard bankruptcy. ](https://mijnevent.nl/en/issue-a-city-pass) [ **The Regional & city vouchers module** Every feature, screen and rate of the module itself. ](https://mijnevent.nl/en/modules/city-cards) [ **Issuing a town voucher for your municipality** From creating the programme to the first voucher in hand. ](https://mijnevent.nl/en/blog/city-voucher-for-your-town) [ **Redeeming a voucher as a shopkeeper** How the scan app works at the counter. ](https://mijnevent.nl/en/blog/redeeming-a-city-voucher-as-a-shop) [ **Printing and reusing physical cards** What is involved in a tangible card alongside the digital voucher. ](https://mijnevent.nl/en/blog/printing-and-reusing-physical-city-cards) 

# Curious what your voucher looks like digitally?

Tell us how the voucher works today — the denominations, the outlets, the way it is settled — and we will show you what stays and what changes.

 [Get in touch](https://mijnevent.nl/en/contact) [See the module](https://mijnevent.nl/en/modules/city-cards)