How Apple Wallet loyalty cards work

What a Wallet pass is

Wallet is the app that comes with every iPhone for cards and tickets. A pass is one item in it: a card-sized digital card issued by a business, with that business’s name, colours and a code to scan. An airline boarding pass is a pass; so is a loyalty card from your café.

A loyalty pass does not need an app of its own. The Wallet shows it, keeps it up to date and brings it forward at the right moment. Your customer doesn’t install anything and doesn’t have to remember a login.

For you, it means there is nothing to teach. Anyone who uses Wallet already knows how to open a card and show it: it is no different from showing a boarding pass. And your staff never have to explain how to install an app.

The front and the back of the card

The front is what the customer sees when they open the card:

• your business name and colours;
• the balance, for example 7 of 10 stamps or 60 of 100 points;
• a progress bar towards the next reward, and the name of that reward;
• the member’s first name;
• a QR code for your staff to scan at the till.

The back is where the details live: your latest message, how the card works, your terms, your address and phone number, and a link to the member privacy notice. There is also a “Remove my data” link, so a customer can leave whenever they want without having to ask you.

The QR code is signed by Loyever, so it can’t be guessed or forged. A copy only ever counts for the original member, and staff see the member’s name before giving a reward.

How the card updates itself

A paper card changes only when someone stamps it. A Wallet pass changes whenever the information behind it changes.

When your staff add a stamp, Loyever updates the card and tells the iPhone, through Apple’s notification service, that a newer version is ready. The phone fetches it in the background. The customer doesn’t tap anything, and the new balance is there the next time they look.

Some changes are also announced on the lock screen. When a stamp is added, the customer can see a short line such as “+1 stamp”. When a reward is ready, the card says so. This small moment matters: the customer sees their progress while they are still at your counter.

Messages on the lock screen

The same route carries your messages. When you send one, Loyever updates the “Latest news” field on the back of the card, and the iPhone shows the new text on the lock screen. It arrives from your card, not from an app or a phone number.

In Loyever a message is up to 150 characters and can include the member’s first name. Messages go out only during your opening hours, and there is a minimum gap between two messages to the same member (3 days by default, adjustable up to 14), so the card never turns into spam.

Showing up near your shop

A pass can hold a list of locations. When the customer is close to one, about 150 metres away, the iPhone can show the card on the lock screen, ready to scan. Depending on your plan, Loyever lets you add up to 10 locations, which suits a business with several branches.

This is not a message. Nothing is sent, and it doesn’t count towards the gap between your messages; the Wallet simply brings the card forward at a useful moment.

Why no app download matters

Think about what an app asks of a customer standing at your counter with a coffee in one hand: find the app in the store, download it, wait, open it, create an account, choose a password, confirm an email. Many people will say “next time”, and next time rarely comes.

A Wallet pass asks for one scan with the phone’s normal camera, a first name and a tap. The whole thing fits in the time it takes to make a coffee. There is no account to forget, no extra app to keep updated and nothing new taking up space on the phone.

It also keeps working after that first day. An app for a single shop is easy to forget, or to delete when the phone runs short of space. A pass sits in the Wallet next to the customer’s other cards, and it comes forward on its own when they are nearby or when something on the card changes.

Privacy, in plain words

Joining asks for very little: a first name, a birthday without the year and, if the customer wants, an email address. Offers from your business need a tick in a box that starts empty. Your business is responsible for its members’ data, and Loyever processes it on your behalf.

The customer stays in control. Removing the card from the Wallet, or turning off its notifications, stops your messages, and “Remove my data” on the back of the card deletes their details.

And on Android: Google Wallet

Android phones use Google Wallet. The customer joins in the same way, from the same QR code, and taps “Add to Google Wallet”. The card shows the same balance and QR code, and it updates after every visit.

Messages arrive as Google Wallet messages rather than through the “Latest news” field, and locations work through the card’s own list of places. For you, nothing changes: you run one card, and Loyever looks after both Wallets.