Definition
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.
Also called .pkpass, digital pass, mobile pass.
Why it is not just an image
The difference that matters is that a pass is live. A screenshot of a loyalty card is frozen at the moment it was taken; a pass carries a link back to the business that issued it, so a stamp added at the counter is reflected on the phone seconds later. That also means a pass cannot be duplicated into a free reward by sending a friend a picture of it.
How the two platforms update
Apple and Google solve this in opposite directions, and the difference is invisible to the customer but decides how a product is built. Apple will not let a server change a pass directly: the phone registers itself, the server sends a silent push, and the phone comes and fetches the new version. Google holds the card on its own servers and the phone mirrors it, so updating the record updates the card. A product that implements only the first leaves every Android customer with a card frozen at whatever it said when they saved it.
What a pass is allowed to do
Less than an app, on purpose. A pass can show a barcode, a handful of fields, and a picture; it can update itself and it can surface on the lock screen near a relevant time or place. It cannot run code, browse, or send marketing whenever the business feels like it. For a loyalty card that ceiling is a feature — it is why customers accept one without the reluctance an app download attracts.
Questions
- Is a wallet pass the same as an app?
- No. A pass has no code of its own and lives inside Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which are already installed. There is nothing to download and no account to create.
- Can a wallet pass be copied?
- The file can be shared, but the balance lives with the business rather than on the phone, so a copy does not duplicate the stamps. Redemption is done by a staff member, which is what stops a screenshot becoming a free coffee.
Related terms
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.
Digital stamp card
A digital stamp card is a loyalty card that lives on a customer’s phone instead of in their wallet. Staff add a stamp by scanning a code at the counter, and once the card reaches a set number of stamps the customer has earned a reward.
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