How to add your loyalty card to Apple Wallet and Google Wallet

Sooner or later a customer holds up their phone at the till and asks: “Can I put your loyalty card in my wallet?” For most small businesses the honest answer used to be no, or “download our app”, which most customers never do. This guide explains how a loyalty card gets into Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, what your customers see, and what it takes on your side.

What your customer sees

A wallet loyalty card is a pass, the same kind of digital card as a boarding pass or a cinema ticket. On an iPhone it lives in Apple Wallet; on an Android phone it lives in Google Wallet. It shows your logo and colors, the customer’s name, their points or stamps, and a QR code your staff scan at the till.

The balance is live. When staff add points or a stamp, the card on the customer’s phone changes to match, and on an iPhone a short message can appear on the lock screen. The customer never opens an app to check where they stand.

Why no app is needed

Apple Wallet comes with every iPhone and Google Wallet is available on most Android phones, and many people already use them to pay or to board a flight. Adding your card takes one tap from a web page: no app store, no download, no password and no storage to free up. That is why a wallet card is an easier ask than an app. The step you are asking customers to take is small.

Step 1: Design the card

Start in the Stow Cards Pass Designer, which you can use without an account. Pick the loyalty template, choose points or stamps, add your logo and colors, and name the balance. The preview shows how the card looks in Apple Wallet and in Google Wallet before anything goes live, and your draft saves as you work.

Step 2: Publish and get your QR code

When the design is right, create an account and publish the program. Stow Cards gives it a hosted sign-up page with its own QR code. Print the code on a counter card, a table tent, a receipt or a window sticker, and link to the page from your website, your social profiles or your newsletter.

Step 3: Customers scan, sign up and add the card

A customer points their phone camera at the code and the sign-up page opens. They fill in a short form, with their name and email address, and tap the button for their wallet. On an iPhone the card goes into Apple Wallet; on an Android phone it goes into Google Wallet. It takes about as long as paying.

Each card carries a Member ID, a short code such as K94VV7KSZ2 that belongs to that customer alone. It is what the QR code holds, and what staff can type in if a phone won’t scan. If a customer can’t show the card at all, staff can find them by name, email or phone number.

Step 4: Scan at the till

Your staff use the Stow Cards Merchant app on a phone or tablet. They scan the QR code on the customer’s card and add points or a stamp with one tap, or enter a custom amount for a larger spend. When a stamp card is full, the app offers to redeem the reward and starts the card again. With a compatible NFC terminal on the counter, customers can tap their phone instead of showing the code.

Step 5: Keep the card working for you

A card that sits in the wallet unchanged is only a tidier paper card. The value comes from keeping it live:

• Balance messages. On iPhone, each change can show a short lock-screen message, such as how many points are left before a reward.
• Campaigns. Update the card for every member or for a segment at once, for a new offer or a seasonal reward.
• Locations. Add your store addresses so the card can surface on the iPhone lock screen near your stores.
• Analytics. See sign-ups, installs, redeemed rewards and in-store scans in the console, including scans by hour, where sign-ups come from and how many of each month’s new members come back.

What each wallet shows

Apple Wallet and Google Wallet lay out a card differently, and a good design works in both. In Apple Wallet the balance sits in large type over a strip image, with a short header field that stays visible when passes are stacked and up to four fields below. In Google Wallet the card shows a title, the balance and two more fields, with a wide banner image under the barcode. Stow Cards builds both from one design, so there is only one card to maintain.

Updates behave a little differently too. An iPhone can show a lock-screen message when the balance changes, while a Google Wallet card changes in place. Either way the customer sees the new balance the next time they look.

What a wallet card can and cannot do

It helps to be clear about the limits before you print the QR code.

• It can show a live balance, the points left to the next reward, stamps, an expiry date and any fields you add, on iPhone and Android.
• It can be scanned at the till with the merchant app, or tapped at a compatible NFC terminal.
• It cannot take payments. Customers still pay the way they do today.
• It cannot send email or text messages. Updates reach customers through the card itself.
• Customers can delete it, and they can get it back from your sign-up page with the email address they joined with.

Getting started

You can design your card today in the Stow Cards Pass Designer, free and without an account. The digital loyalty cards and digital stamp cards pages cover the options in more detail, and why wallet loyalty beats yet another app makes the case for skipping the app entirely.

Questions shop owners ask