Passbook Has Proved To Be Very Popular Among Retailers And Developers

Passbook was one of the main features added to iOS 6, enabling companies to deliver loyalty cards, gift cards, coupons, tickets and other items to a centralized digital wallet for the iPad touch and iPhone.

Although the feature is handy addition that utilizes time and location-based awareness to help you use Passbook passes when needed, it is not a true digital wallet based on hardware technologies such as field communications (NFC).

Despite the Passbook’s limitations, Wired reports that the feature has proved to be very popular among retailers and developers. American Airlines’ director of mobile apps Phil Easter said:

 “We were amazed at the high uptake. Apple has allowed an app developer like us is to put features right in front of the user where before, that space was off limits.”

The report said that American Airlines has registered 1.5 million active Passbook users, with 20,000 passes being served every day.

Cosmetics retailer Sephora is also experiencing strong adoption of the service among its customers. Senior vice president of Sephora Digital Julie Bornstein said:

“From a gift card standpoint it’s very seamless. You can send a gift card to a friend, they accept it, hit a link to add to their Passbook, and then they have their gift card right there”.

Some users still have difficulty in getting started with Passbook service, as in many cases they must download a separate app to use their account with a certain company and then push their passes, coupons or rewards cards over to Passbook.