Apple Wallet Pass
A digital pass stored in the Wallet app built into iPhone, used for loyalty cards, tickets, boarding passes and coupons.
Apple Wallet is the app on every iPhone that holds payment cards and passes. A pass is a small package (the .pkpass format) that describes the card's design, its data fields and where it gets updates. A loyalty card issued as an Apple Wallet pass sits alongside the customer's other passes and can be opened from the lock screen without launching a separate app.
It matters because the pass is delivered by the operating system rather than by an app the business has to build and maintain. The issuer can update the pass (a new stamp count, a changed reward) and, where configured, send a notification to it. Example: a salon's membership card in Apple Wallet shows the member's tier; when the receptionist scans it and records a visit, the pass updates on the client's phone.
The Android equivalent is a Google Wallet pass. The two are separate systems with similar behaviour; a loyalty platform that supports both issues the right one depending on the customer's phone. Notification and location behaviour depend on the device's settings, so no issuer can promise that every pass holder sees every message.
Loyal-T Cards issues its loyalty cards as passes for both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet. The pass is prepared at setup; the customer adds it by scanning a QR code.
Where this applies
Related terms
Digital Loyalty Card
A loyalty card that exists as a pass on the customer's phone, typically in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, instead of as a physical card.
Push Notification
A message delivered to a customer's phone by the operating system, shown on the lock screen or notification tray without the customer opening an app.
Geofencing
A location-based technique that triggers an action, such as a notification, when a customer's device enters a defined area around a place.