Mālama Card app review: save money with participating Mālama Card merchants

Mālama Card 

Price: Free

June 11 is Kamehameha Day in Hawai'i and what better way to celebrate than with the Mālama Card program? Mālama Card by Kamehameha Schools is an app that will help you save at businesses and stores around Hawai’i.

The app was developed by Kamehameha Schools to help support its various tenants. Income from the school properties goes to help fund the Schools’ educational mission, which means when you use the app, you’ll help support the 44,000 students who benefit, as well as the commercial tenants.

When you first launch the app, you’ll be taken to the Merchants page which lists all the merchants. You can search by merchant or venue name.

Along the bottom of the screen are different tabs: Merchants, Promotions, News and info, and Virtual Card. The News and Info screen has the About information as well as Settings.

Some of the offers you will see include a free month trial membership at Powerhouse Gym – Pearl Kai and in-store specials plus 10 percent off for card holders.

You can buy gifts, memberships, food, and even get safety checks for your car using this card to help you save money.

Mālama Card was updated to Version 1.2 on February 2, 2011. The update fixed a bug that was causing the app to crash. The current version has nine customer ratings with an average of 3.5 out of five stars. Feedback comments are mostly positive, with one user complaining that one store didn’t honor the virtual card.

I can’t really test this app out in person since I’m not in Hawai’i but if it works as advertised it would be a great way to save money, either for visitors or residents.

Pros

• Free app
• Saves you money at tons of businesses and stores
• Supports the students and tenants of Kamehameha Schools

Cons

• Can’t use the virtual card at some businesses

For: iPhone, iPod touch, iPad with iOS 3.0 or later