If you're an Android platform user you're now in the money, or at least the mobile coupons, with the commissary. Eight months after the original launch of their rewards card app for iPhone, an app for Android users is now available.
The app allows users to look at new mobile coupons, download them to their Commissary Rewards card and see what coupons they already have right from their phone. While the card itself is not digital -- checkers either swipe the card or enter the phone number you've associated with it -- loading it and maintaining it is. Users can also use the app to locate the nearest commissary.
"As the military changes, so is [the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA], and the Commissary Rewards Card is a way the commissary benefit is evolving to remain relevant to our service members and their families," said Raymond Chandler, DeCA's sales director. "It's amazing how card users can get to these electronic savings - now more than 150 coupons at a time - from either the click of a mouse or now from their own smart phones and tablets."
In this iPhone house, we've found the Rewards app to be the only way we really use the card. I often sit in the commissary parking lot for a few minutes before going into the store scrolling through coupons and loading my card. And while not all of them are phenomenal, there have been some good ones recently. For example, instead of the normal $.50 off eight Yoplait yogurt cups coupon you find in the paper, the app has had a $1 off five coupon.
From the program's start through April 4, Commissary Rewards Card users have downloaded more than 26 million digital coupons, and commissaries have redeemed over 3 million for a savings of $3.6 million to patrons, according to DeCA officials. And now that the Android app is available, those numbers could skyrocket.
Unlike most off-base civilian stores, the commissary does not allow coupon stacking with their rewards card. That means that if you use a rewards card coupon for a product you cannot also use a paper one on the same product. For example, I couldn't use that $1 off five yogurts coupon and a $.40 off six on the same products. I would need to buy a total of 11 yogurts to use both coupons.
If you've never received a Rewards Card getting one is easy. You can pick up a card at either your commissary register or the customer service desk. When you have it, go here to register it with your name and a phone number. Instead of hauling around the card, your checker can simply enter your phone number into the system when you check out.
The new Android app is available free from Google Play. The iPhone and iPad apps can be downloaded from the Apple App Store.
