So earlier today I ran across a great free iPhone App that will help anyone get rid of all those membership and discount store cards you’ve been lugging around in your George Costanza wallet. The App which is free on the iTunes App Store is called CardStar. It uses a feature called SyncScan that allows you to use your iPhone or iPod Touch as a barcode at almost every major retailer.

The App is great cause it lets you easily input all of your cards info into a simple interface where it then creates an exact replica of your bar code and number so you can then just pull out your iPhone when checking out at a store and you or the clerk can scan the barcode on your iPhone rather than having to lug around 30 different store or discount cards.

Most of the recent reviews have been good. Some people have complained that barcode guns work better than the flat bed scanners and also that the distance you hold the iPhone from the scanner is important. Most suggest holding the iPhone about 5-7 inches from the scanning device.

Two good suggestions in the App Store reviews was to also include the date your membership expires where you could then receive an email update in advance and also a phone number to the rewards program so in the example given if you called Hilton rewards to reserve a room you’d have the number right on the phone to easily call and reserve using your rewards number.

Also one other tip I’d like to state is I believe when entering your member ID number make sure to enter it just as it is displayed. If it has spaces enter those as well as typically it already knows the proper format, but seems to not exactly know how to do it if it’s not one that’s already in their system. I’d love to get a clarification on this from someone at CardStar or from someone who is familiar with barcodes.

CardStar works with almost every major retailer, grocery store, gym, library and more. What’s even better is you can manually add one if it’s not already listed.

According to the site… Google Android and Blackberry versions are also coming soon.

For more information visit the CardStar Official Website and for any questions visit CardStar Support.

Download the free CardStar iPhone Barcode App from the iTunes App Store link below.

Note: I do not have any affiliation with CardStar, nor am I an affiliate of theirs or make any money from them. I simply thought it was a cool, free app. Enjoy!

BTW… I’m going to try out the app tonight at Dicks Sporting Goods since I’m buying a new Mountain Bike. I’ll report back on how well it worked.

Update: Tried it tonight at Dicks Sporting Goods and it worked flawlessly. Pretty convenient and useful for a free app. I give it a thumbs up!

Here are some screenshots of the CardStar iPhone App…