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Working with the Wallet App and Apple Pay

The Wallet app manages all sorts of information that you need to access, from airline tickets to shopping and credit cards to movie tickets and rewards cards. Instead of using paper or plastic to conduct transactions, you can simply have your iPhone’s screen scanned.

You also use the Wallet app to access your Apple Pay information to make payments when you are in a physical location, such as a store or hotel (Apple Pay is covered in detail in “Working with Apple Pay” later in this chapter). You can even use Apple Pay when you make purchases online using some apps on your iPhone.

Working with the Wallet App

You can store a wide variety of information in your wallet so that it is easily accessible. Examples include boarding passes, membership cards (to a gym for example), store cards (such as Starbucks if you are an addict like I am), and loyalty or discount cards (such as those loyalty cards that grocery stores or gas stations offer). The Wallet app eliminates the need to carry physical cards or paper for each of these; instead, your information is available to you digitally, and you can enter it as needed by scanning the iPhone’s screen.

To open your wallet, tap the Wallet icon on a Home screen or first open the Control Center and then tap the Wallet icon. The Wallet app opens. At the top, you see the Apple Pay section that shows the cards you’ve enabled for Apple Pay. In the Passes section, you see other cards, such as boarding passes and loyalty cards.

As you add cards and boarding passes to your Wallet, they “stack up” at the bottom of the screen. Tap the stack to see the list of items available in your Wallet. The cards expand so that you can see at least the top of each card; if you have a lot of cards installed, swipe up or down on the screen to view all of them.

To use a card in your Wallet, tap it. It becomes the active card and you can access its information. For example, you can quickly access a boarding pass by opening the Wallet app and tapping it. To board the plane, you scan the code on the boarding pass. Even better, boarding passes start appearing on the Lock screen a few hours before the take-off time. Press (3D Touch iPhones) or swipe to the right (non-3D Touch iPhones) on the boarding pass on the Lock screen and you jump directly to the boarding pass in the Wallet app (you don’t even need to unlock your phone).

Some passes enable you to share them or information about them by tapping the Share icon and using the standard sharing tools that appear.

Others are connected to an app; you can tap the icon on the pass or card to move into the associated app.

When you tap a card’s Info (i) icon, you can use the controls on a card’s Configure screen to adjust certain aspects of how the card works. If you set the Suggest on Lock Screen switch to on (green), for a card that works based on a location, such as your favorite stores, the card automatically appears on your Lock screen at the appropriate times. And, some cards can be automatically refilled from your bank account or credit/debit card so that they always have a positive balance.

To delete a card from your Wallet (such as a boarding pass when the flight is finished), tap its Info (i) icon, tap Delete or Remove Pass, and then confirm that you want to delete or remove it. The pass or card is removed from your Wallet.

When you’re done configuring a card, tap Done. The Configure screen closes and you return to the card you were configuring.

There a couple of ways to add cards to your Wallet. The most frequent way to add a card is by using the Add to Wallet command in the app associated with the card. In some cases, you might be able to scan the code on a card to add it.

Adding Passes or Cards to Your Wallet Using an App

If you are a frequent patron of a particular business (perhaps you are addicted to Starbucks coffee like I am) that has an iPhone app, check to see if it also supports the Wallet app. For example, when you use the Starbucks app configured with your account, you can add a Starbucks card to your Wallet as follows:

  1. Open the app for which you want to add a pass or card to your Wallet.

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  2. Tap Pay. (These steps are specific to the Starbucks app, but you can add other cards to your Wallet in similar ways. Look for the command that enables you to configure how you pay for purchases associated with that card.)

  3. Tap the app’s command to manage its information; this command can be labeled with different names in different apps (it is the MANAGE command in the Starbucks app), or it might be accessed with an icon or menu.

  4. Tap Add to Wallet.

  5. Tap Add. The card or pass is added to your Wallet and is ready to use. (You might be prompted to do some additional configuration of the card, such as to indicate favorite locations.)

Adding Passes or Cards to Your Wallet by Scanning Their Codes

In some cases, you can add a card or pass to the Wallet by scanning its code. To do so, follow these steps:

  1. Open the Wallet app and swipe up until you reach the bottom of the screen.

  2. Tap Edit Passes.

  3. Tap Scan Code.

  4. Use the iPhone’s camera to scan the bar code on the card by positioning the phone so that the white box encloses the bar code on the card (not shown on a figure). If the bar code is recognized and is available for the Wallet, the pass or card is added to the Wallet and is ready for use. If the bar code isn’t recognized or doesn’t support the Wallet, you see an error and you need to find an associated app for the card to use it with the Wallet.

Working with Apple Pay

With Apple Pay, you can store your cards in the Wallet app, and they are instantly and automatically available to make purchases. Apple Pay enables you to pay for things more easily and securely than with physical credit or debit cards. (Note that Apple Pay requires an iPhone 6 or later.) When you are making a purchase in a physical store, you can simply hold your iPhone up to a contactless reader connected to the cash register and touch your finger on the Touch ID button. The iPhone communicates the information required to complete the purchase.

Apple Pay also simplifies purchases made in online stores. When you use an app or a website that supports Apple Pay, you can tap the Buy with Apple Pay icon to complete the purchase.

Apple Pay is actually more secure than using a credit or debit card because your card information is not passed to the device; instead, a unique code is passed that ties back to your card, but that can’t be used again. And, you never present your card so the number is not visible to anyone, either visually or digitally.

Adding Credit or Debit Cards to Apple Pay

To start using Apple Pay, add a credit or debit card to it:

  1. Open your Wallet by tapping its icon on the Home screen.

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  2. Tap Add (+) in the Apple Pay section at the top of the screen.

  3. Tap Continue.

  4. Position the iPhone so that the card is inside the white box. The app captures information from the card, which is highlighted in white on the screen. When it has captured all the information it can, you move to the Card Details screen.

  1. Use the keyboard or keypad to enter any information that wasn’t captured or to correct any information that wasn’t captured correctly.

  2. Tap Next.

  3. Use the keyboard or keypad to enter any information that wasn’t captured or to correct any information, such as the expiration date and security code, that wasn’t captured correctly.

  4. Tap Next.

  5. Tap Agree. The information for the card is verified. If it can’t be verified, you see an error message. For example, if the card doesn’t support Apple Pay, you see a message saying so. If this happens, tap OK to close the message and then wait for your card to support Apple Pay or enter a different card’s information. When the card’s verification is complete, you see it in your Wallet. Once the card is activated, you are ready to use it with Apple Pay.

Managing Apple Pay

To manage Apple Pay, open the Settings app and tap Wallet & Apple Pay. On the resulting screen, you can do the following:

  • Tap a card to configure it, such as to determine if notifications related to it are sent. You also see a list of recent transactions for the card.

  • Add a new credit or debit card.

  • Use the Double-Click Home Button switch to determine whether you can access the cards in your Wallet by pressing the Touch ID/Home button twice when the phone is locked. This makes using your Wallet even easier because you press the Home button twice and your cards appear; tap a card to use it or touch the Touch ID/Home button to pay for something with Apple Pay.

  • Set the Allow Payments on Mac switch to on (green) if you use a Mac computer and want to be able to use Apple Pay for online transactions.

  • Set your default Apple Pay card. The default card is used automatically; you have to manually select other cards in the Wallet app to use one of them instead.

  • Update your shipping address, email addresses, and phone numbers.

You should also make sure Apple Pay is set to use Touch ID because this makes it much easier and faster. Open the Settings app, tap Touch ID & Passcode, and then enter your passcode. Ensure that the Apple Pay switch is on (green). This enables you to complete Apple Pay transactions by touching the Touch ID/Home button. (See Chapter 4 for the steps to help you configure Touch ID.)

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