Mobile circuit and guide

Apple’s Passbook feature of iOS 6 has become a surprise hit for developers.

Passbook is virtual file folder for all those bits of paper you accumulate in your wallet: tickets, boarding passes, coupons and so forth. The Apple-built app aggregates them from third-party apps like Fandango and Starbucks in one convenient place. Each app gets a pass that then, based upon your GPS location, pops up on the lockscreen to, say, remind you that you’ve got a $50 gift card at Target or nine bucks left on your Starbucks card as you’re walking past the store.

American Airlines and cosmetics retailer Sephora are among the big-name companies that have developed apps for Passbook and seen them downloaded by the tens of thousands since it was announced in June. Passbook also plays nicely with Eventbrite, Ticketmaster and Square. Apple doesn’t say how many apps have been developed for Passbook, but 22 are featured in the curated “Apps for Passbook” section of the App Store.

“We were amazed at the high uptake,” Phil Easter, American Airlines’ director of mobile apps said. “Apple has allowed an app developer like us is to put features right in front of the user where before, that space was off limits.”

Passbook isn’t really a digital wallet like Google Wallet, which uses NFC technology to let you pay retailers. But the upside is retailers only need to be able to scan QR or ticket codes for the feature to work — whereas NFC technology requires many businesses to upgrade their checkout systems. Passbook is meant to remind consumers of deals or gift cards they have at nearby retailers, make using them super fast and streamline the iOS app experience. Although you can use it to make payments at some retailers, like Starbucks, its strength lies in quickly and easily displaying coupon or ticket codes.

Belly is one company that’s come to love Passbook for the ease it provides customers and retailers.

“When Passbook was originally announced, we looked at it as a potential threat to our business,” Belly CEO Logan LaHive said. “Instead, we found it was the perfect complement to what we were doing.”

Belly is a digital loyalty program for small businesses. Users earn points and rewards using the company’s app or loyalty card, which businesses process with an iPad and software Belly provides. LaHive quickly realized Passbook could provide an even easier way for customers to earn rewards at retailers because retailers can scan codes presented by Passbook passes. Every store using Belly has had pass-based transactions, and 83 percent have had multiple passes added to their location, meaning more than one customer using Passbook. The startup has seen 40,000 visits to retail locations where retailers used Belly’s pass.