What a wallet pass is
Apple Wallet and Google Wallet both support loyalty cards as a pass type. A pass shows a business's branding, some fields (like a stamp count or reward), and a barcode or QR code for scanning at the till. Customers add a pass with one tap from a website, email or app, and it then lives in the wallet app next to their payment cards.
How Apple Wallet passes update
An Apple Wallet pass is a signed file that includes the address of a web service run by the issuer. When the pass is added, the iPhone registers with that service.
When something changes, for example a stamp is added, the issuer sends a silent push notification through Apple's push service. That tells the iPhone to ask the web service for the latest version of the pass, and the new version replaces the old one in Wallet. If a field is set up to announce changes, the customer sees a lock-screen notification too.
- The customer never has to re-add or refresh the pass.
- Updates arrive within moments when the phone has a connection; the saved pass still opens offline.
- The issuer must keep accepting the credentials baked into old passes, or they stop updating.
How Google Wallet passes update
Google Wallet works differently. Each loyalty card is an object stored on Google's servers, and the phone shows whatever that object currently says. When a stamp is added, the issuer updates the object through the Google Wallet API, and the card on the customer's phone reflects it.
Issuers can also attach messages to a card, and Google Wallet can show a notification for them. That's how promotions and welcome messages reach Android customers.
Nearby passes and lock-screen relevance
Both platforms let a pass carry locations. When the customer is near one of them, the phone can surface the pass on the lock screen or as a nearby-pass notification, so the card is ready as they walk in. It's a gentle reminder that costs nothing and doesn't need an app.
What this means for a loyalty program
- The stamp count on the phone is always current, so there's no “my card says 7 but you say 6”.
- You can reach customers without an app or their phone number.
- Your brand stays in front of customers every time they open their wallet to pay.
- Reliability matters: a pass that stops updating quietly breaks the program, so updates should be retried.
How Eazistamp handles it
Eazistamp issues both Apple Wallet and Google Wallet passes for your stamp card, branded with your logo, colours and stamp icon. Every stamp, removal and redemption triggers an update to both platforms independently, so a hiccup on one never holds up the other, and Google updates are retried if the connection drops. Welcome messages and promotions go to the pass as well as by push, and if your locations have addresses, passes can appear when customers are nearby.