SAIB offer redemption, the current flow

Who scans what, and what changed on 5 August 2026.

Prepared for the compliance re-check. Source: BRD, SAIB Offer Redemption on Aseel Marketplace, v0.4, section 7.4. Internal, for SAIB and Merit review.

The customer scans. The store never scans anything. The store's only role is to display a printed QR code at the till. No member of staff points a device at the customer, touches the customer's phone, or operates any Merit surface during a redemption.

The flow as it stands today

  1. CustomerOpens Aseel inside the SAIB app and finds the offer. The screen shows how many offers remain this month.
  2. CustomerTaps Activate. A terms gate states that the scan consumes the offer, not the tap.
  3. CustomerThe camera opens on the customer's own phone and a five minute timer starts.
  4. StorePresents or points to the printed outlet QR code at the till. Nothing else. The card can also be handed across for the customer to scan.
  5. CustomerScans the outlet QR code, on their own phone, which stays in their hand throughout.
  6. MeritResolves the code to an outlet, confirms that outlet carries the offer, and confirms the customer's remaining entitlement.
  7. MeritRecords the redemption with outlet, timestamp and a reference the bank can trace in a dispute, then locks the offer for the month.

Fallback: manual entry of the outlet code sits under the scanner, for a dead camera, a denied camera permission, or a damaged code. The customer types it themselves. If validation fails at any point, nothing is written and the customer keeps their monthly entitlement.

What changed on 5 August 2026

Until 4 August

The cashier typed the code.

The customer handed their phone across the counter. The cashier typed the outlet code into it and handed it back. That entry was what spent the offer.

From 5 August

The customer scans the code.

The phone never leaves the customer's hand. The customer points their own camera at the printed outlet QR code. The scan is what spends the offer.

The change was made after CEO review, to remove the phone handover at the counter. It is recorded in BRD revision v0.4, dated 5 August 2026.

The questions a compliance assessment usually asks

QuestionAnswerDetail
Does the store scan the customer?NoNo merchant device reads anything from the customer. The store only displays a static printed code.
Does the customer hand over their phone?NoRemoved on 5 August. The device stays with the customer for the whole journey.
Does Merit integrate with the merchant point of sale?NoNo POS integration is in scope. This is a stated requirement of the project.
Is a redemption recorded?YesOutlet, timestamp and a traceable reference, held by Merit and reportable to the bank.
Can a customer redeem twice in a month?NoOne redemption per customer per offer per month, enforced by Merit at validation.

Stated plainly: what the scan does not solve

A printed outlet QR code is static, so it can be photographed and reused away from the outlet. The one-per-customer-per-month cap limits the exposure. A geo-fence on the redeem step closes it properly and is carried as an open decision for the bank, not settled by Merit. Rotating the code was considered and set aside for the MVP, because rotation means reprinting and redistributing cards to every outlet.