Industry: Professional Sport / NRL
Integration: Litecard + Archtics
Channel: Apple Wallet, Google Wallet
The results
- 30,000+ passes downloaded by paying members
- 75% of all downloads completed within the first 72 hours
- One new pass downloaded every 10 seconds for the first 48 hours
The problem: a loyal fanbase that wasn’t easy to reach between games
Melbourne Storm has a large, committed membership base. But the club’s ability to reach those members directly, on matchday and in the days around it, was limited by the channels available to them.
Email open rates are inconsistent. SMS is blunt and expensive at scale. The club app works for engaged fans, but not every member downloads it or keeps notifications on. And for in-stadium experiences, plastic membership cards created friction at entry and gave the club no real-time visibility into who was arriving and when.
The team also had a practical operational problem. Members are entitled to collect merchandise packs each season, but forecasting demand and managing logistics was difficult without a clear picture of who actually intended to collect. The result was overstocking, understaffing, and queues at collection points.
The app is not the problem. The problem is that a meaningful portion of any fanbase will never turn it on, log back in, or keep notifications enabled. You need a channel that works for those fans too.
The setup: six membership tiers, one wallet workflow
Melbourne Storm configured six distinct membership types inside Litecard, each mapped to its own pass template, with dynamic fields pulling in individual member details from their membership and ticketing platform, Archtics.
The six membership types covered:
- Junior – youth membership pass with club branding and personalized member ID
- General Admission – adult general admission, showing gate entry and aisle allocation
- Reserved Seating – members with specific seat details displayed on the pass face
- Premium – premium tier with sponsor branding and priority access messaging
- Corporate – corporate packages including partner logo placement via dynamic fields
- Concession – concession membership with relevant gate information and QR code
Each pass was personalized: member ID, first name, membership type, gate allocation, and aisle. The QR code on the pass links back to the member’s record in Archtics, so gate staff and stadium systems can verify and scan without the member needing to do anything other than open their wallet.
Distribution was straightforward. The club sent over 30,000 emails to paying members with a direct link to save their pass. No app download required. No login screen. One tap.
What the member actually sees
The pass sits natively in the member’s Apple or Google Wallet, styled in Melbourne Storm’s purple and gold. It shows everything the member needs at the gate: their name, member ID, membership type, gate number, and aisle allocation, along with a QR code for scanning.
There is nothing to log in to. No app to open. The pass is available from the wallet on the lock screen, the same way a boarding pass or bank card would be.
Connecting Litecard to Archtics
Archtics is an enterprise-level ticketing and membership platform used by professional sports clubs globally. Melbourne Storm needed their Litecard wallet passes to stay in sync with Archtics, so that member data on the pass was always accurate, and gate redemption worked reliably.
The integration works through Litecard’s API. When a member’s record is created or updated in Archtics, the relevant data fields are passed to Litecard, which generates or updates the corresponding wallet pass. Changes to seat allocation, membership tier, or gate instructions reflect on the pass automatically, without the member needing to re-save anything.
The workflow step by step:
- Membership confirmed in Archtics. Member signs up or renews. Archtics holds the source of truth: member ID, tier, allocated seat or aisle, and gate assignment.
- Litecard API creates the wallet pass. Archtics triggers Litecard via API. A personalized pass is generated for the correct membership tier with the member’s details pre-populated.
- Member receives email with save link. A membership email is sent containing a wallet save link. The member taps once and the pass is added to Apple or Google Wallet.
- Pass stays live and updateable. If any data changes, Litecard pushes an update to the pass in the member’s wallet. No re-save required. The updated information appears automatically.
- Stadium scan validates against Archtics. On matchday, staff scan the QR code on the pass. It validates in real time via Archtics. Entry granted. No physical card. No app login.
Push notifications without the app
Once a member saves their pass to their wallet, Melbourne Storm can send push notifications directly to their lock screen. No app download. No opt-in prompt. No email open rate to worry about.
This matters because a large portion of any club’s membership will never install the official app, or will install it once and eventually turn notifications off. The wallet pass creates a persistent, low-friction notification channel that is already live by default once the pass is saved.
Examples of notifications Melbourne Storm used:
- “Don’t forget, come and see the Storm play Parramatta in the Opening Round!”
- “Collect your 2026 membership item from the stall near gate 3!”
- “Opening Round is here! Go Storm!”
The club can send notifications on a schedule or trigger them based on location. When a member enters the stadium perimeter, a geo-trigger can fire a reminder about collecting their pack, a food and beverage offer from a sponsor, or a simple match-day message. These are not automated email sequences. They are short, contextual messages that arrive at the right moment, on the right device.
The member does not need to have their phone out or the pass open. The notification appears on the lock screen the way any other push notification would. The wallet pass is what gives the club permission to send it.
Click and collect passes: solving a real operational problem
One of the more practical parts of Melbourne Storm’s Litecard setup is how they are using it to manage merchandise pack collection.
Each season, members are entitled to collect a merchandise pack. In previous years, the club had limited visibility into how many members would actually turn up to collect, which days would be busiest, and how much stock to have ready at each collection point. The result was a familiar operational headache: overstocking at some gates, running out at others, and long queues on peak collection days.
Litecard introduced a separate click and collect pass. Members receive a digital collection token in their wallet, linked to their membership, which they present when picking up their pack. The act of saving the collection pass signals intent. The club can see, before matchday, how many members have saved a collection pass. That data feeds directly into staffing and stock decisions.
What the collection pass enables:
- Demand visibility before matchday. Pass save rates give the logistics team an early read on demand per gate and per day, before the event.
- Redemption tracking at point of collection. When a member presents their collection pass, it is scanned and marked redeemed. The club knows exactly who has collected and who has not.
- Push reminders to uncollected members. Members who saved the collection pass but have not yet redeemed it can receive a targeted push to remind them before the collection window closes.
- Better staffing decisions. With real demand data rather than estimates, the team can allocate staff more accurately and reduce waste.
This is a good example of how wallet passes can do more than replace a plastic card. The collection pass is a small logistical tool, but it solves a real problem that previously required manual estimation and post-event reconciliation.
A full matchday journey for a Storm member
To see how this all fits together, here is what the experience looks like from the member’s perspective.
- Membership email arrives with wallet save link. The member receives their annual membership email. One tap adds the membership card and collection pass to their wallet.
- Pre-match push notification. A few days before the opening round, the member receives a lock screen reminder about the game with gate entry information.
- Location trigger fires as the fan arrives. As the member approaches the stadium, a geo-triggered notification prompts them to collect their merchandise pack from the stall near their gate.
- Gate entry via QR scan. The member opens their wallet at the gate. Staff scan the QR code. Validated instantly against Archtics. No plastic card, no email search, no app.
- Collection pass scanned at the merch stall. The member presents their collection pass. Staff scan it, mark it redeemed, and hand over the pack. The club’s system updates in real time
What Melbourne Storm says about working with Litecard
“The Litecard team has been great to work with, collaborative and invested in our success. We’ve been able to solve legacy problems around logistics, communications and CRM. Their platform and APIs were also easy to use and set up.”
Jess Tavrou, Head of Digital and Data, Melbourne Storm
What other clubs and membership organizations can take from this
This is not a technology project. It is a member experience decision that happens to use technology sensibly. The questions worth asking are practical ones.
Does every one of your members download and use your app? If not, you have a gap in your direct communication channel. The wallet pass fills that gap for the members who don’t.
Do you have visibility into member intent before key events? Collection passes, digital tokens, and wallet engagement data can tell you who is likely to show up and where, before the day itself.
Can you personalise the in-stadium experience without adding friction? A wallet pass is not a second app. It is a lightweight, personal object the member already carries. It sits in the same place as their boarding pass and bank card. Use it.
Melbourne Storm started with a straightforward brief: replace plastic membership cards and give the digital team a better direct channel to members. What they ended up with is a practical CRM and engagement layer that works in-stadium, on the way to the game, and throughout the season, without asking members to do anything more than tap once.
FAQ
Does using Litecard with Archtics require a complex integration?
Not for most clubs. Litecard connects via API, and Melbourne Storm’s team described the Archtics integration as straightforward to set up. Most of the configuration is handled inside Litecard’s platform rather than requiring heavy development work on the club’s side.
Do members need to re-download the pass if their details change?
No. Litecard can push updates to the pass without the member needing to do anything. If a seat changes, a gate is updated, or any field is amended, the pass in the member’s wallet updates automatically.
How are push notifications sent to members?
Once a member saves a pass to their wallet, the club can send push notifications through Litecard without needing the member’s app installed. Notifications appear on the lock screen and can be scheduled, triggered by time, or triggered by the member’s location.
Can wallet passes work across different membership tiers?
Yes. Melbourne Storm runs six separate membership types, each with its own pass design and dynamic field configuration. Litecard manages each tier separately, with personalized content pulled from each member’s data.
What does the click and collect pass actually do?
It is a separate wallet pass that acts as a digital collection token. The member saves it to their wallet, presents it at the merch stall, and staff scan it to mark the collection as redeemed. The club can track how many members have saved the pass, how many have redeemed it, and send follow-up reminders to those who have not yet collected.
Is this only useful for large clubs with tens of thousands of members?
No. The same workflow works at much smaller membership scales. The operational benefits around demand forecasting, direct push communication, and app-free member identification apply to any membership organization that wants a more reliable direct channel to its members.
Litecard is a mobile wallet marketing platform that helps brands, sports clubs, retailers, and membership organizations create, distribute, update, and track Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes. Used for memberships, vouchers, loyalty, event access, and click and collect, Litecard works alongside existing CRM, POS, eCommerce, and ticketing platforms.
