Insight
Wallet adoption, and why it settles the app question
Every closed-loop programme eventually faces the same decision: build an app, or use the wallet already on the phone. One number decides it, and it is not close.
Updated
At a glance
- Apple Wallet
- Pre-installed on every iPhone, not removable
- Google Wallet
- Pre-installed or one-tap on Android
- Install step
- None — the card is added from a QR
- Typical app install rate
- A fraction of a wallet add
The number that matters is not adoption, it is friction
Wallet apps are pre-installed on both major platforms, which means the reach question is settled before it is asked: the app is already there, on effectively every phone a customer might present at a counter.
The interesting figure is what happens next. Adding a pass is one scan and one tap, with no account, no password and no app store — a sequence short enough that people finish it standing at a till. Installing an app is a store visit, a download, a registration form and an email confirmation, and every one of those steps loses people.
For a programme whose whole value depends on the customer actually holding the card, that difference is not a marginal conversion improvement. It is the difference between a programme that exists and one that was launched.
- A gift card nobody installed an app for is a gift card nobody redeemed.
- Staff cannot talk a queue through an app install; they can point at a QR code.
- The wallet also solves the part apps are worst at: being found again three weeks later.
What this means when designing a programme
- 01
Do not budget for an app
The money goes further into the programme itself — denominations, promotions, merchant coverage.
- 02
Design for the first ten seconds
Getting the card is the only step the customer has to complete. Everything else can be optional.
- 03
Put the QR where the decision happens
At the till, on the receipt, in the booking confirmation — not in a marketing email a week later.
- 04
Measure adds, not downloads
The comparable metric to an app install is a pass add, and it is a very different number.
Practical notes
- iPhone
- Apple Wallet cannot be uninstalled
- Android
- Google Wallet pre-installed on most devices, one tap otherwise
- Older phones
- A web page fallback shows the same card and code
- No account
- Adding a pass creates no login and no password
- Re-finding it
- The pass surfaces on the lock screen near a location
- Updates
- Balance changes reach the pass without the customer acting
Questions about this
What is a closed-loop payment platform?
It lets you issue and process payments inside your own ecosystem — gift cards, prepaid balances, employee accounts — without routing every transaction through Visa, Mastercard or a bank. The funds stay in your system, so the fees, the data and the customer experience are yours to set.
Do my customers need to install an app?
No. Cards issue straight to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, which are already on every phone. The customer scans a QR code with the camera, taps “Add to Wallet”, and the card is there in about ten seconds. No download, no account, no registration form.
Does it work with my existing POS terminal?
Yes. The cashier enters the amount on the terminal you already run, the terminal shows a QR code, and the customer scans it with their own phone. That works on any terminal that can draw a QR on screen, which covers modern PAX, Verifone and Ingenico fleets. If there is no terminal at all, staff can run the same flow from a phone.
Do you handle online payments too, or just POS?
Both, on one balance. There is a checkout widget for merchant sites and a direct embedding into PSP gateways as a payment method. One admin panel, one transaction ledger, one reporting stream — offline and online together.
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