Digital Wallet Pass: What It Is and How It Works for Loyalty
By Alva Chew · Updated
Definition A digital wallet pass is a card, ticket or loyalty card saved in the wallet app already on a customer's phone, such as Google Wallet. For loyalty, the customer adds it from a link, and it shows their balance without any app download. The business that issues the pass creates it through the wallet provider's API.
What is a digital wallet pass?
A digital wallet pass is a card saved inside the wallet app on a customer’s phone. Loyalty cards, event tickets, boarding passes and coupons all use the same format. The customer adds the pass once, then opens it from the wallet whenever the shop or venue needs to scan it.
For a small business the appeal is simple. The wallet app is already on the phone, so the customer installs nothing new. This is one of the three main forms of a digital loyalty card, alongside app-based cards and web cards.
What does a loyalty wallet pass show?
Google’s developer documentation says saving a loyalty card to Google Wallet gives customers “immediate visibility to points and rewards directly on the mobile”. The card also carries a code that staff scan at the counter, which is how the shop identifies the member.
Source: Google for Developers, Google Wallet loyalty cards, checked 4 November 2026.
How does a customer get a wallet pass?
Google’s documentation says passes can be shared anywhere a hyperlink works, including websites, email and SMS. In practice a shop prints that link as a QR code at the till.
- The customer scans the QR code with their camera.
- The link opens an add-to-wallet prompt.
- The customer taps to save, and the card appears in the wallet.
No account on a separate app is needed, and the whole step takes seconds. That speed is the reason wallet passes suit joining at the counter, where a queue is waiting.
How does a business create and issue one?
The business, or its loyalty software, builds a pass object that describes the member and their balance. Google’s documentation says it then wraps that object in a JWT, which is a signed data token. Signing the token produces what Google calls a token that “can then be used to create an ‘Add to Google Wallet’ link”.
Google offers a REST API for web, email and SMS issuance, and an Android SDK for issuing inside Android apps. The REST API has endpoints to “create, retrieve, and update the various components of passes”, which is how a balance can change after each purchase.
Source: Google for Developers, Google Wallet API documentation, checked 4 November 2026.
You will not write this code yourself. A loyalty platform handles the pass for you. What matters is that the platform issues a real wallet pass and not only a link to a web page.
Wallet pass, web card or app: which fits?
| Type | Install needed | Where the customer finds it |
|---|---|---|
| Wallet pass | Wallet app already on the phone | In the wallet |
| Web card | None | A browser link or bookmark |
| App card | A new app per business | On the home screen |
What should you check before choosing one?
- Which wallets the provider supports. Ask for the exact name and test it on your own phone.
- Whether staff can scan the pass with a phone they already have.
- Whether the balance on the pass updates after each purchase.
- Whether the pass keeps one balance across all your outlets. See how points work behind the card.
- What it costs. Some plans are free with no end date, as covered in free loyalty program apps.
Gimify and wallet passes
Gimify issues each member’s card as a Google Wallet pass, with a live points balance and a scannable code. Members join by scanning a QR code and entering their email, with no app download and no password.
Questions owners ask
What is a digital wallet pass?
A card saved in the wallet app on a phone. It can be a loyalty card, a ticket, a boarding pass or a coupon. The customer adds it once and opens it from the wallet whenever they need it.
Do customers need to download an app to use a wallet pass?
No separate app. The wallet app is already on most phones, and the customer adds the pass from a link, which the business can place behind a QR code at the counter.
How does a business create a wallet pass?
Through the wallet provider's developer tools. In Google Wallet, the business builds a pass object, signs it, and turns it into an add-to-wallet link. Loyalty software normally does this for you.
Can a wallet pass show a points balance?
Yes. Google describes loyalty passes that show points and rewards directly on the phone once the customer saves the card.
What is the difference between a wallet pass and a web card?
A web card is a page in the browser, so the customer has to find the link again. A wallet pass sits in the wallet app next to the customer's other cards.
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