Definition
Pass update
A pass update is the process by which a card already sitting in a customer’s wallet is changed — most often to show a new stamp count. It happens without the customer opening anything, which is what separates a live loyalty card from a picture of one.
Why it has to be quick
The moment a customer looks at their card is the moment they are handed their coffee, standing at the counter. If the number is still yesterday’s, the programme feels broken in the one interaction that was supposed to prove it works. Updates that land in seconds are the difference between a card people trust and one they stop bothering with.
Why it should be queued, not fired and forgotten
The update and the stamp are not equally important. A stamp is a record of something a customer bought; an update is a convenience. So the stamp is written first and the update is queued in the same breath, which means a wallet provider having a bad minute can never cost somebody a stamp they watched being added. A failed update is retried on a widening schedule and eventually given up on — the customer’s balance is still correct, and their card catches up on the next change.
What the customer should notice
Ideally nothing. No notification for every stamp, no badge, no interruption — the number is simply right the next time they look. Wallet passes are a poor channel for demanding attention, and using an update as an excuse to ping somebody is a fast route to having the card removed.
Questions
- How quickly does a loyalty card update?
- Usually within a few seconds of the stamp, so the change lands while the customer is still at the counter.
- What if the phone is switched off?
- The update waits. When the phone next has a connection the card catches up, and no stamps are lost in the meantime because the balance is held by the café.
Related terms
Wallet pass
A wallet pass is a digital card held in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet — the same container as a boarding pass, event ticket or bank card. Unlike a screenshot, a pass can be updated by whoever issued it, so a loyalty balance changes on the phone without the customer doing anything.
Apple Wallet
Apple Wallet is the app built into every iPhone that holds passes: boarding passes, tickets, payment cards and loyalty cards. A business can issue a loyalty card into it, and update that card remotely so the customer’s stamp count is always current.
Google Wallet
Google Wallet is the app on Android phones that stores payment cards, tickets and loyalty cards. A loyalty card added to it is held as a record on Google’s servers, and the phone mirrors that record — so updating it on the server updates what the customer sees.
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