How to Add a Rewards Card to Apple Wallet: The Complete 2025 Guide

Tired of carrying a thick wallet full of plastic rewards cards? Ready to make checkout faster and make sure you never miss out on points again? You’ve come to the right place. Moving your loyalty cards to digital format is one of the best ways to make your life easier, and Apple Wallet is the perfect tool to help you do this.

The good news is that it’s completely possible. The process for how to add rewards cards to Apple Wallet, however, isn’t always as simple as adding a credit card. It all depends on whether the store has officially connected its program with Apple. Don’t worry, though. We’ve tested every method and have the complete guide for you.

We’ll walk you through the two main ways to get a clutter-free digital wallet:

• The Official Method: For cards from major stores that directly work with Apple Wallet. This is the easiest and fastest way.
• The Manual Workaround: A powerful technique for adding almost any card with a barcode, even if the store doesn’t officially support it.

By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly how to add a rewards card to Apple Wallet, no matter what brand it is.

The Official Method

This is the “easy path” for adding a rewards card. Many large businesses have invested in connecting their loyalty programs directly with Apple Wallet. This means you can add your card with just a few taps, and it will often include extra features like your points balance or location-based notifications. This method works because the store has created a digital “pass” file (.pkpass) that Apple Wallet can read and display.

Here’s how to find and add these officially supported cards.

From the Store’s App

This is the most common and reliable way to add a supported card. Stores want you to use their app, so they often make the “Add to Apple Wallet” feature easy to find.

1. Download and open the official app for the store (e.g., Starbucks, Walgreens, Target, Sephora).
2. Log into your rewards or loyalty account within the app. If you don’t have one, you’ll likely need to sign up.
3. Go to the section of the app that shows your account, membership details, or the digital version of your rewards card.
4. Look for a button or link that says “Add to Apple Wallet.” It often shows the official Wallet logo. From our experience adding our Walgreens card, this link was conveniently located right under the digital card’s barcode in their app.
5. Tap the button. A preview of your digital pass will appear. Tap “Add” in the top-right corner, and you’re done. The card is now in your Apple Wallet.

From an Email or Website

Sometimes, especially when you first sign up for a loyalty program, the company will send you a welcome email that includes a direct link to add your new card to Apple Wallet.

1. On your iPhone, search your email inbox for messages from the store. Look for subject lines like “Welcome to our Rewards Program” or “Your Digital Card is Here.”
2. Open the email and look for a link, button, or an attachment with the “Add to Apple Wallet” logo.
3. Alternatively, log into your rewards account on the store’s official website using the Safari browser on your iPhone. Sometimes the link is available in your account dashboard.
4. Tap the link. This will create the pass and open it in Apple Wallet.
5. Tap “Add” to save it to your wallet.

Many popular brands support one of these official methods. This is not a complete list, but it gives you an idea of the types of companies that have this connection:

• Airlines (Delta, United, American Airlines)
• Coffee Shops (Starbucks, Dunkin’)
• Pharmacies (Walgreens, CVS)
• Movie Theaters (AMC Theatres, Cinemark)
• Retail Stores (Target, Kohl’s, Sephora)
• Grocery Stores (select locations and brands)

If you’ve checked the app and website and still can’t find the button, don’t give up. The next section is for you.

The Manual Workaround

What happens when you can’t find that magic “Add to Apple Wallet” button? This is a common frustration, especially with smaller local shops, gym memberships, or older loyalty programs that haven’t been updated. These businesses haven’t created the necessary digital pass file for Apple Wallet.

This is where the real power comes in. You can create your own digital pass for virtually any card that has a scannable barcode. This is the solution that transforms your Apple Wallet from a holder of a few cards to a complete replacement for your physical wallet’s loyalty card section. To do this, we’ll use a trusted third-party app from the App Store. These are some of the best loyalty card apps for iPhone that specialize in this task.

For this guide, we will focus on Pass2U Wallet because it is exceptionally good at the core task of creating a custom pass for Apple Wallet.

Using A Third-Party App

Let’s walk through the exact process. Gather your physical rewards cards, and let’s digitize them.

1. Download Pass2U Wallet from the App Store on your iPhone.
2. Open the app. You may see an introductory screen or an ad. You can typically close this to get to the main screen.
3. Tap the large “+” icon, usually at the bottom of the screen, to add a new card.
4. The app will give you a few options. Choose “Scan Barcode on Card.” This is the easiest method. Grant the app camera access if prompted.
5. Position your iPhone’s camera over the barcode on your physical rewards card. The app is fast and should capture the barcode and its number almost instantly.
6. Once the barcode is captured, Pass2U will search its database for a matching store template. For example, if you scan a Petco card, it will likely pull up a pre-designed Petco template.
7. If it finds a template, review the details. If it doesn’t, or if you want to customize it, you can manually edit the pass. You can change the card’s name, apply a color scheme, and even add notes (like your membership number if it’s separate from the barcode).
8. Once you are happy with how the pass looks, tap “Done” or a checkmark icon, usually in the top-right corner.
9. The pass is now created inside the Pass2U app. The final, crucial step is to move it to Apple Wallet. On the pass screen within Pass2U, tap “Add to Apple Wallet.”
10. A final preview will appear, showing exactly how the card will look in your native Apple Wallet. Tap “Add.”

Congratulations. You have now successfully learned how to add a rewards card to Apple Wallet even for a completely unsupported card. Repeat this process for all your cards with barcodes—from the local library to your favorite frozen yogurt shop.

A Real-World Example

Theory is great, but let’s put it into practice. A very common question we see is how to add a Safeway card to Apple Wallet. This is a perfect case study for the manual workaround because, as of our latest check, the official Safeway app does not provide a direct “Add to Apple Wallet” button for the rewards card.

Here’s how we did it, step-by-step, using the method described above.

First, we confirmed that the Safeway app itself displays our loyalty card with a barcode. This is key. If you don’t have your physical card, you can just scan the barcode directly from your phone’s screen.

1. We opened the Pass2U Wallet app on our iPhone.
2. We tapped the “+” icon and selected “Scan Barcode on Card.”
3. Instead of using a physical card, we opened our Safeway app on another device (or you could use a screenshot) and scanned the barcode displayed on the screen. The app captured the number perfectly.
4. Pass2U immediately recognized it as a Safeway card and applied a ready-made template with the Safeway logo and red color scheme. This makes it instantly recognizable.
5. We didn’t need to make any changes, as the template was excellent. We simply tapped the “Done” checkmark in the top corner.
6. On the next screen, we saw our newly created Safeway pass inside Pass2U. We tapped the prominent “Add to Apple Wallet” button at the bottom.
7. The final Apple Wallet preview screen appeared. We tapped “Add.”

That’s it. The Safeway card was now sitting in our Apple Wallet, right alongside our credit cards and official passes. At the checkout, we simply double-click the side button, select the Safeway card, and let the cashier scan the barcode from our iPhone screen. This is the definitive way to add a Safeway card to Apple Wallet and it works flawlessly.

Common Troubleshooting

Sometimes, things don’t go as planned. If you’re running into issues, don’t get discouraged. We’ve encountered nearly every possible problem and have the solutions right here. Understanding why a problem occurs is the key to fixing it.

No Barcode, Only a Number

You’ve encountered a card, perhaps for a local business or an older system, that only has a membership number printed on it.

• The Reason: Apple Wallet passes for store cards are designed around scannable codes. The system relies on a visual barcode (like a QR code, PDF417, or Code 128) that a scanner can read. A simple string of digits has no visual format for a scanner to interpret.
• The Solution: Unfortunately, a card with only a number cannot be added to Apple Wallet in a scannable format. Your best options are to either continue using the store’s dedicated app if it exists, or to store the number in a secure notes app for easy lookup at the counter. You can tell the cashier the number verbally.

Barcode Doesn’t Scan

You did everything right, but when you present your phone at the checkout, the scanner won’t read the barcode. This is the most common point of failure.

• The Reason: There are two primary causes. First, some older checkout scanners, particularly red-light laser scanners, have difficulty reading light-emitting screens. They are designed to read light reflected off a physical surface. Newer imager-based scanners (which look more like cameras) can read screens without issue. Second, the brightness of your phone screen can be too low for the scanner to register the contrast between the black and white bars.
• The Solution: Before the cashier tries to scan, swipe down to open your iPhone’s Control Center and push the screen brightness to the maximum level. This solves the problem over 90% of the time. If it still fails, the store may be using an incompatible scanner. Some third-party apps, like Pass2U, also allow you to try generating the pass with a different barcode format (e.g., changing from Code 128 to a QR code), which can sometimes help.

Error: “Pass Not Available”

You tapped a link from an email or website, but you get an error message saying the pass is invalid, expired, or not available.

• The Reason: The digital pass file (.pkpass) you are trying to access is either a one-time use link that has already been used, has expired, or the link itself is broken. This is a server-side issue with the store.
• The Solution: You cannot fix the broken link. The best course of action is to go back to the source. Open the store’s app or website and look for the “Add to Apple Wallet” button there to generate a fresh, new link. If that fails, you can always resort to the manual workaround method we detailed earlier.

Rewards vs. Payment Cards

As you build out your digital wallet, it’s important to understand a key distinction. A reward card in Apple Wallet functions very differently from a payment card used for Apple Pay. Confusing the two can lead to frustration.

Think of Apple Wallet as a digital version of your physical wallet. It has different slots for different things.

The process to add a card to Apple Pay is entirely separate. That involves adding a credit or debit card for making secure, contactless payments. To do this, you open the Wallet app, tap the “+” icon, and follow the prompts to scan your physical credit card and have it verified by your bank. This process uses NFC (Near Field Communication) for transactions and is highly secure.

Here is a simple breakdown of the differences:

• Rewards and Loyalty Cards

  • Purpose: Identifies you to a merchant to earn and redeem points.
  • How It’s Added: Via an app link, email, website, or manual creation with a third-party app.
  • How It’s Used: Presents a barcode on your screen for a cashier to scan.
  • Technology: Barcode (QR, Code 128, etc.).

• Payment Cards (for Apple Pay)

  • Purpose: To pay for goods and services securely.
  • How It’s Added: Directly through the Wallet app’s “+” button, followed by bank verification.
  • How It’s Used: Hold your iPhone near a contactless payment terminal.
  • Technology: NFC (Near Field Communication) with a secure tokenization system.

Knowing this difference helps you understand why you can’t just “scan” your CVS card to pay for your items. You first present the CVS rewards card pass to be scanned for points, then you switch to your Apple Pay credit card to complete the payment.

Your Streamlined Wallet Awaits

You now have a complete toolkit for digitizing your entire collection of rewards, loyalty, membership, and store cards. We’ve covered the two essential methods for how to add reward cards to Apple Wallet: the simple, official method for supported brands, and the incredibly powerful manual workaround that puts you in control.

By following this guide, you can finally say goodbye to that overstuffed, disorganized physical wallet. No more fumbling for the right card at checkout or missing out on points because you left a card at home.

You now have all the tools and knowledge you need to digitize your life and take full advantage of the convenience Apple Wallet offers. Enjoy your new, streamlined checkout experience.