Today gift cards, coupons, id cards, membership cards and loyalty cards can be delivered in a Pass format to mobile wallets on millions of devices. Passes are supported on the iPhone® through Apple’s Passbook® app and supported on Google Android and Blackberry through downloadable PassWallet applications. The mobile wallet gives retailers, universities, businesses the ability to store transactional or identity credentials in the phone which can be scanned to validate (and one day tapped or airdropped). There are many ways to provision these cards into the mobile wallet, giving both businesses and consumers choice. Today most Passes available are issued into the mobile wallet through a downloaded application provided by the merchant or ticket provider. One drawback with this method is that customers do not always want to download an entire App just for the Pass. On top of that some merchants do not have the resources to build and promote an application that can integrate with the mobile wallet. The other methods to provision to the mobile wallet have traditionally been through email and through a clickable link on the mobile web. Sending a Pass through email always runs the risk the Pass will be blocked by a spam filter. Delivering by mobile web suits Pass delivery well however the fact that the URL of the Pass is accessible on the web through that link must be considered for highly secure transactions since the link can be forwarded or tracked in browser history. For these reasons, the most secure issuance method today for delivering Passbook Passes without requiring a customer download an App is MMS through the carrier network. MMS is also one of the easiest ways for customers to request the Pass be delivered to their iPhone.
Through the carrier network, device detection is possible through the MMS channel giving the card issuing platform the ability to know which mobile wallet will be used. MMS also provides delivery receipts for delivered transactions giving issuers confirmation that a card was delivered to the end user with certainty. Utilizing the carrier network to deliver their cards also gives customers a piece of mind knowing that identity cards or cards with monetary value are delivered through trusted parties.
Skycore has successfully integrated Pass delivery by MMS with all four Tier 1 US Carriers including Verizon, AT&T, Sprint & T-Mobile.
