What a Wallet pass is.
A Wallet pass is a digital card kept in Apple Wallet or Google Wallet, such as a boarding pass, ticket, store card, coupon or business card. On iPhone it is a signed .pkpass file from the issuer: it adds without an app, opens with no signal, and can update itself from the issuer’s server.
Make your free cardA free Apple Wallet business card, in about a minute
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- Apple’s description
- Wallet Passes: “Create, distribute, and update passes for the Wallet app.”
- The file
- A .pkpass on iPhone. Google Wallet passes are issued through Google’s API instead.
- Who can make one
- Anyone in the Apple Developer Program, with a pass type ID certificate; every pass is signed with it.
Five styles, one format.
Apple’s pass object names exactly five styles. A business card is not one of them, so issuers pick the closest.
| Style (pass.json key) | Made for | Used for business cards? |
|---|---|---|
boardingPass |
Flights, trains, buses | No |
eventTicket |
Concerts, games, conferences | Sometimes, for its large artwork |
storeCard |
Loyalty and membership cards | Yes: Cardr’s default, its strip carrying the design |
coupon |
Offers | No |
generic |
Anything else | Yes: Cardr’s plainer designs |
Styles from Apple’s Pass documentation, read October 29, 2026. Cardr’s choice of style per design is in its pass builder.
A business card as a store card.
Drawn by the code that issues Cardr passes, for an example holder: the strip carries the design, and the QR opens the card page.
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A pass can update itself.
A pass can carry a webServiceURL, which Apple describes as “the URL for a web service that you use to update or personalize the pass.” When the issuer has a new version, it tells the phone, and Wallet fetches it. The person never re-adds anything.
That is what makes a pass a good home for a business card: it lives in an app already on the phone, opens with no signal, and does not go stale when your title changes. On an Apple Watch paired with that iPhone, the same pass is a double-click of the side button away: see a business card on Apple Watch. Not every pass is built this way; many are snapshots with no web service at all. The details are in our guide to pass updates.
-
With webServiceURL
- You edit
- Phone is told
- Pass updates
-
Without it
- You edit
- Old pass stays
Where these facts come from.
Primary documents only: the standard, the platform’s own documentation or the chip maker’s datasheet. Each was read on October 29, 2026.
- Apple Developer: Wallet Passes: “Create, distribute, and update passes for the Wallet app.”
developer.apple.com/documentation/walletpassesRead October 29, 2026 - Apple Developer: Pass: the five styles (boardingPass, coupon, eventTicket, generic, storeCard), formatVersion 1, and webServiceURL for updates
developer.apple.com/documentation/walletpasses/passRead October 29, 2026 - Apple Developer: Distributing and Updating a Pass: passes by web page, email or the Add to Apple Wallet button; bundles as .pkpasses, type application/vnd.apple.pkpasses
developer.apple.com/documentation/walletpasses/distributing-and-updating-a-passRead October 29, 2026
Common questions.
Do I need an app to use a Wallet pass?
No. Apple Wallet comes with every iPhone and Google Wallet with most Android phones. The issuer needs software to make the pass; you only need the wallet.
Does a Wallet pass work offline?
Yes. The pass is stored on the phone, so it opens and shows its QR code with no signal. Updates arrive the next time the phone is online.
Can an Apple Wallet pass go in Google Wallet?
Some Android phones can add a .pkpass to Google Wallet, unevenly. Issuers who want both issue a Google Wallet pass.
Is a Wallet pass safe?
A pass cannot run code: it is data, images and a signature, and Wallet refuses a pass whose signature does not check out against a certificate Apple issued.
Can I make a Wallet pass for my business card?
Yes. Cardr issues one free, signed and updatable, from the details you type in. Building one yourself needs an Apple developer account and a signing certificate.
Your card, as a pass, in a minute.
Cardr issues your business card as a signed Apple Wallet pass that updates itself when you edit it. Free forever.