How to add a loyalty card to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet

To add a loyalty card to Apple Wallet, open the link the business gives you, usually a QR code at the counter or a link in an email or text, and tap Add to Apple Wallet. Your iPhone shows a preview of the card, you tap Add, and it is in Wallet. Google Wallet works the same way on Android with an Add to Google Wallet button.

That covers most cards. The harder case is a card with no button at all, like an old plastic card from a shop that never made a digital version. Both wallets now have a way around that too, with one catch worth knowing before you rely on it. This guide covers both cases on both phones, then how to show the card at the counter and what to do if it goes missing.

Key takeaways

The usual route is a button: scan the shop’s QR code or open its link, tap Add to Apple Wallet or Add to Google Wallet, and confirm. No app to download.

A card with no button can still go in. Google Wallet can find many programs by name or make a pass from a photo of the barcode. On iOS 27, Apple Wallet can create a pass from a barcode too.

A pass you make yourself is a copy of a barcode. It does not update when you earn a stamp, and the shop cannot send anything to it.

If you delete a card by mistake, open the shop’s link again. Many cards come back with your progress intact.

How to add a loyalty card to Apple Wallet from the shop

A shop’s wallet card usually comes from a web page, not an app. That is deliberate: Apple Wallet is already on every iPhone, so there is nothing for you to install. Apple’s own instructions are short: open the app, email, notification, or other message that holds the pass, tap Add to Apple Wallet, follow the steps on screen, and if needed tap Add in the top right corner (Apple Support).

In practice, at a café counter, it looks like this:

Point your camera at the QR code. The iPhone camera reads QR codes on its own. Tap the link that appears.
Fill in the short form. Usually a first name and an email address, sometimes a phone number or a birthday. Some cards also have a box for offers by email or text, which you can leave unchecked.
Tap Add to Apple Wallet. Your iPhone shows a preview of the card.
Tap Add in the top right corner. The card is now in Wallet, and the shop can scan it on your next visit.

It takes a few taps, standing at the counter. A link in an email or a text message works the same way, with no counter involved: tap the link, and you land on the same page.

A pass you add on your iPhone also appears on a paired Apple Watch, so you can show it from your wrist (Apple Support).

What if there is no Add to Apple Wallet button?

Apple’s first answer is simple: if you see no option to add a pass, contact the business and ask whether it supports Wallet passes (Apple Support). Plenty of shops do but only advertise it on a sign by the counter, so it is worth asking.

If the shop has no wallet card at all, iOS 27 adds a way to make one yourself, for cards that have a barcode or QR code but no digital pass (Apple Support). There are two routes.

From a photo of the barcode

Take a photo or a screenshot that includes the barcode or QR code, tap Add to Wallet, and follow the steps. This route uses Apple Intelligence, so it needs an iPhone 15 Pro, iPhone 15 Pro Max, or an iPhone 16 or later, and it is not available in every language or region.

By hand

Open the Wallet app and tap the add button.
Tap Create a Pass, then Create Pass Manually.
Choose a template and tap each field to fill in the details.
Tap the done button to save it.

Apple documents this feature from iOS 27 on, so on an older version, ask the shop for a wallet card instead.

A pass you made yourself is not the same card

This is the catch. A pass you build from a photo holds a copy of the barcode, nothing more. The shop can still scan it, which is useful. But it has no connection to the business that issued the card.

	Card issued by the shop	Pass made from a photo
Scans at the counter	Yes	Usually, if the barcode is clear
Shows your stamps or points	Yes, and updates itself	Only what you typed in
Messages from the shop on your lock screen	Yes, if you allow notifications	No
Comes back if you delete it	Often, from the shop’s link	Only if you make it again

If the shop offers a real wallet card, use that one. The homemade version is a good fix for a card that has no digital option, not a replacement for one that does.

How to add a loyalty card to Google Wallet

On an Android phone, the shop’s link works the same way as on an iPhone. Scan the QR code or open the link, fill in the form, and tap Add to Google Wallet. Google then shows its own page to save the card. You need to be signed in to a Google account on the phone, since Google only saves a pass to a signed-in account (Google for Developers).

Google Wallet has two more routes Apple does not, both inside the app (Google Wallet Help):

Search for the program. Open Google Wallet, tap the add button, choose Loyalty card, then find the shop or program by name. Depending on the program, you can scan your existing card, sign up, or find your existing account. If the name does not come up, that program is not supported there.
Import from Gmail. Google Wallet can bring in some loyalty cards automatically from Gmail.

For a card that is in neither place, Google Wallet can make a pass from a photo (Google Wallet Help). Tap Add to Wallet, then Photo, pick a clear, large photo of the barcode, give the pass a name, and tap Add. There is also an Everything Else option for making a pass from other photos, which Google says is not available in India. The same catch applies as on Apple: a photo pass is a barcode copy that never updates.

How to use the card at the counter

On an iPhone, open the card in any of these ways (Apple Support):

Tap its notification on the lock screen, if one is showing.
Open the Wallet app and tap the card.
Double-click the side button (or the Home button on an iPhone SE), if Automatic Selection is turned on for that card.

Then hold the code up to the scanner. One setting is worth knowing: tap the card, open its details, and look for Suggest on Lock Screen. Where a card offers it, the card can appear on your lock screen by itself based on time or location, for example when you are near the shop.

On Android, open Google Wallet, tap View more, then View more passes, and tap the card. Tap the barcode to show it full screen, and the cashier scans it. If the card has no barcode, give them your membership number instead (Google Wallet Help).

If you deleted the card or changed phones

Be careful with the delete button on an iPhone. Apple notes that deleting a pass on one device removes it permanently from Apple Wallet on your other devices too (Apple Support).

The fix is usually the same link you joined from. Many shops issue the card from your record rather than from the phone, so opening the link again can put the same card back with your stamps on it. With a Passumo card, opening the join page again in the same browser on that phone shows a “Welcome back” message and a button to add the card again, and your progress is safe. On a new phone, joining again with the same email address finds your existing card instead of starting a new one.

A pass you made yourself from a photo has no record behind it. If it goes, you make it again.

For shop owners: send customers here

If you run a loyalty card, this page is the one to send a customer who asks “how do I get this on my phone?” Two things make the moment go smoothly.

First, show the right button. Customers recognize the official Add to Apple Wallet and Add to Google Wallet badges, and a join page that shows only the one that matches their phone saves them a choice. Passumo’s join page does this: an iPhone sees the Apple button, an Android phone sees the Google one.

Second, put the code where people wait, with the reward written next to it. What to put next to the till covers the sign itself. If you are still deciding between the two wallets, you do not have to: Apple Wallet vs Google Wallet for loyalty cards explains why one program should cover both.

The reason this matters goes past the scan. A card the shop issued updates itself on every visit, and it gives you a way to reach the customer later, by push to the card, and by email or text when they have agreed to it. That is the part a photo of a barcode can never do, and it is what turns a first visit into a regular. Passumo, which we make, builds that card for both wallets from your logo and colors with the loyalty card maker.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need to download an app to add a loyalty card? No. Apple Wallet comes with every iPhone, and Google Wallet is the wallet app on Android. A shop’s card opens from a web link, so there is nothing extra to install.

Do I need Apple Pay or a bank card set up? No. Loyalty passes and payment cards are separate. You can hold a loyalty card in Wallet without ever adding a bank card.

I tapped Add to Apple Wallet and nothing happened. What now? If the link opened inside another app, such as Instagram or an email app, try opening it in Safari (or Chrome on Android) and tap the button again. If it still does nothing, ask the shop to send the link by email or text.

Is it free? Yes, for the customer. Adding a pass to either wallet costs nothing.

Why can I only see one wallet button? Many join pages detect your phone and show the matching button, so an iPhone sees Add to Apple Wallet and an Android phone sees Add to Google Wallet. Open the same link on the other kind of phone and the other button appears.

Can I add a supermarket or chain store card? Often, yes. Some chains offer an Add to Apple Wallet button in their own app, and many programs appear in Google Wallet’s loyalty search. If a card has neither, make a pass from its barcode as described above, knowing it will not update.

Where to go next

For the full picture of how these cards work for the shop, start with digital loyalty cards for small businesses. Why your loyalty card belongs in a wallet covers why a pass beats a separate app. And if you run a café, Passumo for cafés shows the card, the join page, and the messages that follow.

Sources: Apple Support, Add, use, and share tickets and passes in Apple Wallet (September 15, 2025); Apple iPhone User Guide for iOS 27, Create passes in Wallet, Use passes, cards, and keys in Wallet, and Manage passes, cards, and keys in Wallet; Google Wallet Help, Loyalty cards and gift cards and Manage items in Google Wallet; Google for Developers, Issuing passes for web, email, SMS (updated October 28, 2026). All retrieved October 28, 2026.