With the release of iOS 27, Apple is taking a significant step toward making the iPhone a true replacement for a physical wallet. The Wallet app receives seven major upgrades covering digital passes, hotel keys, AI-powered bill splitting, spending insights, and more. Each feature is designed to reduce reliance on paper and plastic, integrating intelligent capabilities powered by Apple Intelligence.
Redesigned passes for memberships, gift cards, and loyalty cards
Digital passes get a new "Poster Generic" style with full background images, a primary logo, header and footer fields, and an optional barcode. Each pass can include up to two quick actions, such as getting directions to a venue or checking reward balances. Apple also allows users to verify the pass issuer certificate for authenticity. Four new barcode types are supported: EAN-13, Code 39, Codabar, and ITF. Developers can use the new Pass Designer Mac app, a WYSIWYG editor that simplifies pass creation.
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Create a pass by scanning a physical ticket
The "Create a Pass" feature uses Visual Intelligence to convert paper tickets or QR codes into digital passes. Simply point the camera at the code, choose a template from Standard, Membership, or Event, and customize the background color and information fields. There are 12 background colors with different textures and seven themed backgrounds for theater, music, sports, and movies. Available fields include label, date, membership number, contact, coupon code, VIN, insurance, and many more, allowing nearly any physical card to be digitized.
Digital hotel keys with trip details
When adding a digital hotel key from a participating hotel to Wallet, users can now view more details about their stay. Hotels can send updates on booked activities and provide access to additional services directly from the pass.
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AI-powered bill splitting
Using the new Siri Mode in the Camera app, or a feature integrated into Messages and Wallet, users can take a photo of a receipt and let Apple Intelligence calculate each person's share. Visual Intelligence scans the receipt and creates a digital copy of all items; each person selects what they consumed. Tax and tip are automatically calculated. Payments can be made via Apple Cash, a U.S.-only feature.
Insights for spending monitoring
The Insights section allows adding financial accounts to Wallet to track spending. It is an expansion of the Connected Accounts feature from earlier iOS versions. Insights includes spending, recurring transactions, account balances, and more. It works with financial institutions that support Connected Cards, including several UK banks.
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Order tracking expands to Australia and Canada
Order tracking, previously available in iOS 26 for the US and UK, now extends to Australia and Canada in iOS 27, allowing users to follow purchases directly from Wallet.
Tap to Share for faster checkout
Tap to Share lets customers connect their iPhone to a participating merchant's iPhone for a quick digital checkout, speeding up the contactless payment process.
Many of these features are available on all iPhones compatible with iOS 27, but some, like Visual Intelligence, require an iPhone 15 Pro or later. For more on the operating system updates, see the article on iOS 27 second beta and the macOS Golden Gate Beta 2. For a comparison with industry trends, refer to the story on Tata Electronics cyberattack. For technical details on barcode standards, visit Wikipedia.
