Apple Wallet and Google Wallet loyalty cards: a guide for Australian businesses

Published 27 September 2026 · Updated 21 October 2026 · Reviewed quarterly

To put your loyalty card in Apple Wallet and Google Wallet, use a loyalty platform that makes wallet passes, print its QR code and let customers scan it at your counter with their phone camera. The card goes into their wallet, with no app to download. On Rewardtree, setup takes a few minutes and it's 60 days free.

The steps#

1. Pick a platform that makes Apple and Google passes. A wallet card has to be made and signed by a platform that is set up with Apple and Google. Rewardtree does that part for you, so you don't need a developer or a developer account of your own.
2. Write your reward in one sentence. At sign-up you pick your kind of shop and write the reward the way you'd say it: "Customers pay for 9 coffees. Their 10th is free." That's what the card shows.
3. Print your free QR poster. Your owner page makes an A4 poster with your QR, plus a page of four stickers. Put it by the till, where people wait with their phone in hand.
4. The customer scans, confirms their mobile and adds the card. They point their phone camera at the QR, type their first name and mobile, enter the code we text them, and tap Add to Apple Wallet or Add to Google Wallet.
5. Each visit, the customer scans the same QR. One stamp per visit. Nobody scans the customer's phone, and staff type nothing: the card on the customer's phone updates to show the new stamp.
6. The reward is a live screen. When the card is full, the visit that filled it is paid as normal. On the next visit the customer taps to use the reward and shows staff a live screen with the reward, their first name and a moving clock. Then the card starts counting again.

What a wallet loyalty card is#

Apple Wallet comes on every iPhone. Google Wallet is the same idea on Android phones, including Samsung. People already use them for boarding passes, concert tickets and bank cards. A wallet loyalty card is your stamp card saved in the same place.

It shows your shop's name, the customer's stamps and your reward. Nothing to install, no password, and it can't be left at home, because it's on the phone they carry everywhere. For you: no paper cards to print, reprint or lose, and a list of who your regulars actually are.

One QR for iPhone and Android#

You print one QR code. It opens your shop's page, and that page works on any phone. Here's what your customer does:

1. Points their phone camera at the QR on your counter, or taps your link on Instagram or Google.
2. Types their first name and mobile number.
3. Chooses whether your shop can text them offers. The box stays unticked unless they tick it, and the page says plainly that you'll see their first name, mobile and visits.
4. Types the code we text them, to confirm the number.
5. Taps Add to Apple Wallet on an iPhone, or Add to Google Wallet on Samsung and other Android phones.

The code comes by text, so customers join with a mobile number, not a landline. The shop page works in eight languages, including Arabic, Vietnamese and Simplified Chinese, and picks up the language the phone is set to. Someone with neither wallet can still keep their card in their phone's web browser.

What the card shows#

• Your shop first: your shop's name. Ours is a small "Powered by Rewardtree" line on the back.
• Their progress: their stamps so far, out of how many.
• The reward: what it is, and when it's ready.

There's no QR on the card: nobody scans the customer's phone. The customer scans your QR instead.

Updates are free and automatic#

Every time a customer collects a stamp, the card on their phone changes to show the new count. When the card is full, it shows the reward is ready. After the reward, it starts again.

If you change your reward later, you choose what happens to customers who already have stamps: they finish the card they're collecting first, then their card moves to the new one by itself, or everyone moves at once. Nobody needs to join again, everyone keeps the stamps they've earned, and the QR on your counter stays the same. There's no charge per update and no cap on how many customers you have.

How rewards stay honest#

A card that updates itself is only useful if the stamps on it are real. This is how Rewardtree keeps them real without making staff play police:

• One stamp per visit. A visit is 4 hours by default at a café, and a day at a barber or beauty salon (you can change it), so scanning the QR twice in a row gives one stamp.
• Where your shop is. Each stamp is checked against where your shop is. Anything unusual is still given, so a customer is never turned away because a phone got its location a little wrong, but it shows as "Needs a look" on your page. If you set your opening hours, a stamp collected more than 30 minutes outside them doesn't count.
• One phone, one person. A phone collects for one customer, so one phone can't fill cards for a whole family of made-up names.
• You see every stamp. Your page lists every stamp and reward, and you can undo any stamp or give back a reward used by mistake.
• Rewards are a live screen. The customer shows a screen with the reward, their first name and a moving clock, for about 2 minutes. A screenshot doesn't move, and once the reward is used it can't be used again.

It's much harder to fake than a paper card.

What it costs#

On Rewardtree, it's 60 days free with no credit card, then A$9.99 a month per shop, or A$99 a year per shop. That's our end-of-year special for businesses that sign up by 31 December 2026: you keep it for every shop, including shops you add later, for as long as you stay. From 1 January 2027, businesses that sign up pay A$19.99 a month or A$199 a year. That covers the wallet cards, the QR poster and every card update. You don't need an Apple developer account or a Google Wallet account: Rewardtree makes and signs the cards for you. The details are on the pricing page, and the loyalty cost calculator compares that with what you pay for a loyalty app now.

Weighing up other loyalty apps? The comparisons go through them one by one.

Mistakes to avoid#

1. Making people download an app. Few customers will install an app for a shop they visit once a week, and asking at a busy counter costs you sign-ups. A wallet card needs nothing installed.
2. Putting the reward too far away. If a regular needs half a year to reach it, the card stops pulling them back. A good rule of thumb: a daily or weekly regular should reach the reward within weeks, and a monthly client within 6 to 9 months.
3. Hiding the QR. Put it where people stand and wait with their phone in hand: by the till, on the coffee machine, at reception.
4. Not telling staff. One sentence covers it: "Scan the QR for your stamp."

Going live#

Setting up takes a few minutes: set up your shop with its name and your mobile, write your reward in one sentence, add your address, go live, print your free QR poster and put it by the till. For the whole plan, including the Australian privacy basics, read how to set up a loyalty program in Australia. Running a café? The café guide covers the classic buy-9-get-the-10th-free card.

Questions, answered#