Contact identifiers: what they are, how to verify them, and how to deactivate or reset one

An identifier is a unique value that points to one contact, such as the code on a loyalty card or a wallet pass. When it's scanned in the Business App or at a connected POS, Leat knows straight away which contact it belongs to. A contact is always known by their email address, and identifiers are the extra values you can find them by.

One contact, several identifiers

A contact can have more than one identifier, for example a plastic card and a wallet pass. One of them is the default.

Wallet passes show the contact's default identifier. Leat only creates a new identifier for a pass when the contact doesn't have one yet, so issuing another pass doesn't add another identifier.
Loyalty cards work the same way: if the card's QR code holds an identifier, scanning it finds the contact.

Cards without a contact

An identifier doesn't need a contact. You can import a stack of cards before you hand them out, see How to import existing loyalty cards. The first time such a card is scanned in the Business App or at a POS, Leat creates an anonymous contact for it, with a generated placeholder email address.

When a scanned card isn't recognised

A card is only recognised when its value is an identifier in your account. A card from another program, or one that was never imported or added, isn't, so neither the Business App nor your till can find a contact for it.

To fix one card, link it to the contact who has it:

Go to CRM > Identifiers and click Add identifier.
Under Value, enter the card's value exactly as the scanner reads it. The number printed on a card isn't always the same value, so scan it first and compare.
Under Contact email, search for the contact and choose them.
Click Submit.

From then on, scanning the card finds that contact, in the Business App and at your till. If the card is already listed but has no contact, open it and choose Link to a contact in the Actions menu instead. To add many cards at once, import them: see How to import existing loyalty cards.

Allow the scanning of all qr-codes

Under Settings > Loyalty, Allow the scanning of all qr-codes lets the Business App accept a card your account doesn't know yet. The app saves it as a new identifier without a contact, so staff can link it to a contact there. To change the setting, click Edit details, switch it on or off and click Save changes.

It only works in the Business App. Your till and other integrations still don't recognise a card your account doesn't know, so link it as described above.

All identifiers: CRM > Identifiers

CRM > Identifiers opens Contact identifiers, with a sidebar that shows how many identifiers you have and how many are Linked to a contact. The sidebar has three pages: Identifiers, Activity and Settings.

Identifiers lists every identifier in your account.

Add identifier creates one by hand.
Import adds many at once from a .csv file.
Export downloads the list.

Every value must be unique within your account. You can't add a value that already exists.

An identifier's own page

Click an identifier to open it. It has three tabs:

Information: the name, value, contact, status and when it was created.
Usages: the transactions made with it.
Activity: everything that happened to it, newest first, with who did it and what changed.

To change an identifier's name, click Edit details on the Information tab, make your changes and click Save changes, or Cancel to leave it as it was. The value and the contact can't be changed there.

The Actions menu at the top of the page has:

Deactivate or Activate, depending on its status. Deactivating asks you to confirm first.
Link to a contact, when the identifier doesn't belong to anyone yet.
Reset, when it does. This retires the identifier and creates the same value again as a fresh identifier with no contact. The old one stays with the contact, marked as cleared, so their history is kept. Use it when a card should no longer belong to that contact, for example when it's handed to someone else.

A cleared identifier has no Actions menu and can't be activated or deactivated.

A contact's identifiers

Open a contact and go to the Identifiers tab to see all their identifiers. The Default value column shows which one is the default. The menu on each row has:

Make default, for an active identifier that isn't the default yet.
Deactivate or Activate.

An identifier's status is Active, Inactive or Cleared. Cleared means it was reset.

Asking contacts to confirm an identifier by email

By default, an identifier is linked to a contact as soon as someone links it: a contact entering their card number in the contacts portal, staff linking a card in the Business App, or your POS or another integration doing it through the Leat API. Anyone who knows a card's number can link it to any email address.

If you'd rather the contact proves the email address is theirs first, switch on verification. Leat then emails the contact a link, and the identifier is only linked to them once they click it.

Switching verification on

Go to CRM > Identifiers and click Settings in the sidebar.
Under Verification, click Edit verification.
Choose Ask contacts to confirm by email first. Link identifiers right away is the default.
Click Save changes.

It applies to every identifier in your account from then on. Identifiers that are already linked stay linked.

What happens when an identifier is linked

With verification on, linking an identifier to a contact doesn't link it yet. Instead:

Leat sends the contact the Contact Identifier verification email, with a link to confirm.
The identifier stays without a contact, and its Activity tab shows Link confirmation email sent.
The contact clicks the link. It opens your contacts portal, which confirms the link.
The identifier is now linked to the contact, and the change shows on its Activity tab.

The link works once and for 24 hours. If it has expired, link the identifier again the same way and the contact gets a new email. Each new email replaces the previous link, so only the latest one works.

This happens wherever an identifier is linked outside the dashboard: in the contacts portal, in the Business App, through your POS or another integration, and also when an import or an automation creates an identifier for an existing contact. Each of those contacts gets the email.

Linking from the dashboard itself is not verified. Link to a contact on an identifier's page, and Add identifier with a contact chosen, link it straight away.

The verification email

The email is on the same Settings page, below the verification switch. Click View details to see its Information and Recipients, or click the preview to open it in the editor. Recipients lists every contact it was sent to, with whether it was delivered, opened and clicked.

The email must keep the Verification link merge tag. That's the link the contact clicks, and you can't publish the email without it.

If your account has never sent the email, the card shows no preview yet and View details can't be clicked. Leat creates the email from its standard template the first time a contact needs one.

What deactivating an identifier does

Deactivate an identifier when a card is lost, stolen or cancelled by the contact. An inactive identifier is refused when it's scanned or entered at the till, or used by an integration that works through the Leat API, so nobody can earn or spend with it any more.

Everything else stays as it is: the contact, their points and balances, and their other identifiers. A wallet pass showing this identifier stays in the contact's wallet, but it's refused when scanned. The change is recorded on the identifier's Activity tab, and you can activate it again at any time.

Deactivating doesn't remove the contact or unsubscribe them. If the contact should stop receiving emails as well, change that on the contact itself.

You can also ask the AI assistant to deactivate or activate an identifier, for example from the contact's page. It names the identifier and asks you to confirm before it changes anything.