Guide

How to create a Google Wallet pass

A Google Wallet pass puts your loyalty card, membership, ticket, coupon or gift card on your customers’ Android phones. This guide explains how Google Wallet passes are built, walks through creating one yourself with the Google Wallet API, and shows the no-code route for businesses that would rather not run that setup.

Last updated October 23, 2026. Facts about Apple Wallet and Google Wallet were checked against Apple’s and Google’s own documentation, linked in the sources.

The short answer

There are two ways to create a Google Wallet pass:

• Build it with the Google Wallet API. Set up an issuer account and a Google Cloud service account, create a pass class and an object for each person, and sign an Add to Google Wallet link for each one. New accounts can only issue passes to their own team until Google grants publishing access.
• Use a no-code pass builder. Design the pass in a visual editor, publish it, and share one link or QR code. The builder handles the issuer account, signing and updates, and makes the Apple Wallet version at the same time.

Pass types in Google Wallet

Google Wallet has a pass type for each common use, and each one has its own layout and fields. Pick the type that matches what the pass is for:

How a Google Wallet pass is built

Unlike an Apple Wallet pass, a Google Wallet pass isn’t a file you send. It lives on Google’s servers in two parts:

• A class is the template: your business name and logo, the program or event, and anything every pass shares.
• An object is one person’s pass, created from the class: their name, member number, barcode value or seat.

The customer adds their object to Google Wallet through a signed link. Because the pass stays on Google’s servers, changing the object or class updates the saved pass without anything being re-sent.

Create one yourself with the Google Wallet API

1. Create an issuer account. Sign in to the Google Pay & Wallet Console with the Google Account that should be its admin, enter your public business name and accept the Google Wallet API terms.
2. Set up API access. In Google Cloud, enable the Google Wallet API, create a service account and a key for it, then add the service account to your issuer account in the console so it can create passes.
3. Create a class. Either in the console (choose a pass type and fill in the fields) or with a POST to the class endpoint of the Google Wallet REST API.
4. Create an object for each person. Through the REST API, or by including the object in the signed link from the next step, which creates it when the person saves the pass.
5. Build the Add to Google Wallet link. Put the object in a JSON Web Token, sign it with the service account key, and append it to https://pay.google.com/gp/v/save/. Anyone who opens the link on an Android phone can save the pass.
6. Request publishing access. New issuer accounts start in demo mode, where only admins, developers and listed test accounts can save your passes. Request publishing access from the Google Wallet API dashboard before you share passes with customers.

Create one without code

With a no-code builder such as WalletPassBuilder, the same pass takes a few steps:

1. Sign up and open the builder with Create New Pass.
2. Pick a template: Event Ticket, Coupon & Offer, Membership Card or Loyalty Pass.
3. Add your logo and colors, the fields on the front, the details on the back, and a QR code or barcode. The live preview shows the Google Wallet and Apple Wallet versions side by side.
4. To give each person their own pass, add variables such as {name} and fill them from a CSV, a form or a checkout.
5. Publish, and share the link or QR code. On Android it offers Add to Google Wallet, and on iPhone Add to Apple Wallet.

There’s no issuer account to set up and no publishing access to wait for: passes can be saved by anyone as soon as they’re published.

The Add to Google Wallet button

Google provides official Add to Google Wallet button artwork in many languages, and its brand guidelines ask you to use it as supplied rather than drawing your own. Older pages may still show the earlier Save to Google Pay button, which did the same job before Google Wallet replaced Google Pay as the home for passes.

Put the button where customers already are: the confirmation page after sign-up or purchase, the welcome email, a text message, or a QR code at the counter. Our guide on adding a pass to Apple Wallet or Google Wallet shows what customers see when they tap it.

Update a pass after it’s saved

• One person’s pass: update their object, such as a new points balance or tier.
• Every pass at once: update the class, such as new opening hours or a new event time.
• A message: add a message to the pass, which shows on it and can appear as a notification on the phone.

Our guide to wallet pass notifications covers which messages are worth sending.

Don’t forget iPhone users

Google Wallet runs on Android phones and Wear OS watches, not on iPhone. If some of your customers use iPhones, and most businesses’ do, issue every pass to Apple Wallet too, and share one link that shows each phone the right button.

Making a pass for your own card

If you’re a customer rather than a business, you can’t issue a pass for a business, but you can add your own copy of a card that has a barcode. Our guide on cards with no Add to Wallet button explains how.

Frequently asked questions

Sources

Apple’s newer developer pages load dynamically, so where a number comes from Apple it is taken from its Wallet Developer Guide and support pages. If Apple’s or Google’s current documentation differs, follow theirs.

• Google: Setting up a Google Wallet API issuer account
• Google: Create passes classes and passes objects
• Google: Working with JSON Web Tokens (JWT)
• Google: Generating Google Wallet REST API authentication credentials
• Google: Google Wallet brand guidelines