In January 1995, Frank Riolfo, a former member of the Royal Army Medical Corps, attempted to blackmail Tesco, forcing the introduction of the previously trialled discount card. Threatening to inject AIDS-infected blood into stock, Riolfo demanded payment via Tesco's new loyalty card system.[4]
The cards, he specified, were to contain magnetic strips allowing them to function secretly as ATM cash withdrawal cards. Coded copies of the PIN code were published under his instruction in National newspapers. Clubcard was subsequently launched nationally with a Direct Marketing campaign by Evans Hunt Scott, Terry Hunt's advertising agency.
Customers, including Riolfo's wife, signed up to the scheme and collected a card. Riolfo and his wife then toured the country withdrawing cash until they were eventually caught on 22 April 1995.[5] Frank Riolfo pleaded guilty and was jailed for six years, after appeal.[6] The loyalty card scheme was not discontinued.
In the end of 2000, Robert Edward Dyer made a similar attempt at extortion involving Clubcards with a magnetic strip for ATM withdrawals. Dyer sent several letter bombs, one of which exploded when the recipient opened it, before Dyer was arrested in February 2001.[7] David Sainsbury, then chairman of J Sainsbury plc, rejected the idea of introducing a similar scheme. However, the effect that Clubcard had on Sainsbury's sales led to the reversal of that decision, with the launch of the Sainsbury's Reward Card in June 1996.[8]
After two slight amendments to the design of cards in the 1990s by Evans Hunt Scott's creative team, the scheme had a major relaunch in 2005 with all members being sent personalised cards and key fobs which could be scanned at the checkout, rather than swiped. The scheme was again relaunched in 2008 with all seven million members once again being sent new design cards and key fobs.