The recently released iPhone 5 and iOS6 operating system highlighted Apple Passbook as an innovative new feature, promising to relieve users from “searching through your email or fumbling with paper printouts”. However, as eager users have discovered, clicking on the Passbook icon often leaves you at a landing page where there isn’t much to do.
That is, until now. CardSwap, an online gift card marketplace where consumers earn cash-back and gift card rewards when purchasing gift cards on everything from gas and groceries to clothing and electronics, has announced it has integrated its delivery platform directly with Apple’s Passbook. CardSwap’s founder, Frances Ho, adds, “Making our gift cards and rewards available on a user’s iPhone is a natural transition from physical cards to mobile devices.”
Now in pre-release, CardSwap members can register an activation code received with their purchase to seamlessly add and track all future gift card purchases directly into Apple Passbook.
An additional feature of CardSwap’s Passbook-stored gift cards provides users details on the latest deals being offered by merchants – helping members to decide the best time to redeem their gift cards.
CardSwap has also introduced a new white-label platform which enables merchants seeking to integrate into Passbook an easy way to be activated in time for the crucial holiday season.
For now, most Canadian merchants still require the physical plastic gift card for in-store redemption. However, the launch of Apple Passbook and CardSwap’s integration services is a strong first step in leading Canada’s merchants to embrace the shift to the digital mobile wallet.
