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A wallet pass has a fixed set of areas, each with its own job. Once you know them, every control in the template editor maps to a spot on the pass. The areas of a wallet pass: logo and header fields at the top, strip image with the primary field, secondary and auxiliary field rows, and the barcode at the bottom

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The front of the pass

From top to bottom:
AreaWhat goes there
Logo and logo textTop-left corner: your logo (and optionally a short logo text next to it). This is your brand anchor — it’s the first thing a customer recognizes
Header fieldsTop-right corner, opposite the logo. Always visible — even when the pass is stacked with other passes in the wallet — so use them for the single most useful value, like a points balance
Strip or background imageThe visual heart of the pass. Depending on the pass style, this is a strip image (a banner across the upper part) or a full background image
Primary fieldThe pass’s headline value, rendered large — for example the member’s name or balance. On styles with a strip image, the primary field sits on top of it
Secondary and auxiliary fieldsRows of smaller values in the middle of the pass — member since, tier, store, and so on. How many fit and how they’re arranged depends on the pass style (see the per-style layouts below)
Barcode or NFCThe bottom of the pass: the scannable barcode, or for tap-to-use programs the NFC capability (shown with a small tap icon). See barcodes and NFC
Here is every area in place on a real pass — a store card open in Apple Wallet on an iPhone:
The front of a store card pass open in Apple Wallet on an iPhone, with the Hold Near Reader prompt below it

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The back of the pass

Customers reach the back through the ⋯ button when the pass is open in their wallet. Back fields hold everything that doesn’t belong on the front: terms, contact details, longer descriptions, links. There’s much more room here, and text can be longer.
The back of a pass in Apple Wallet on an iPhone, showing wallet toggles followed by Terms & Conditions, Customer Support, and Serial Number back fields
The toggles above your back fields belong to the wallet, not your template — each customer controls them on their own device. Knowing what they do helps when a customer reports a pass that “isn’t working”:
Wallet controlWhat it does
Automatic UpdatesLets the pass receive changes from your program — new field values and design updates. If a customer turns this off, their pass keeps its old content until they turn it back on
Allow NotificationsWhether this pass may show notifications on the customer’s lock screen, including the messages you send to it. Turned off, the pass still updates — just silently
Show on Lock ScreenWhether the pass may surface on the lock screen when the customer is near one of its locations. This toggle only appears when the pass template has locations set
Automatic SelectionLets the iPhone present this pass automatically where it’s requested — for tap-to-use programs, this is what brings up the right pass at the Terminal without the customer hunting for it
Remove PassDeletes the pass from this device
The Serial Number on the back of the pass is the same value as the Pass ID on the pass detail page in the portal — a customer can read it to you to confirm you’re both looking at the same pass. See passes.
The editor also offers footer fields. These only appear on the generic poster layout, as a final line at the very bottom of the pass — on other layouts, keep your content in the areas above.

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Pass styles

The pass style (chosen in the Settings tab) decides the overall layout — most importantly whether the pass uses a strip image or a full background: The five pass styles: Store Card and Coupon use a strip image, Generic and Boarding Pass use a background image, Event Ticket uses a strip with thumbnail or a poster layout
StyleVisual baseTypical use
Store CardStrip imageLoyalty and membership cards — the most common choice
CouponStrip imageOffers and vouchers
GenericBackground image — or the poster layout with full-bleed artwork on the newest iPhonesAnything that doesn’t fit the other styles
Event TicketStrip image, or a full-poster layout with its own artwork on newer iPhonesEvents and entry passes
Boarding PassBackground imageTravel — also allows 5 secondary/auxiliary fields instead of 4
Switching style keeps your fields and images but changes how they’re laid out — check the preview after switching, since a strip image won’t show on a background-based style and vice versa.

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Layout by style

Each style arranges the same areas differently. The two poster variants are the new, modern pass presentations: full-bleed artwork carries the design, and they activate automatically on newer iPhones when your template has poster artwork.
Store card layout: logo and header fields at the top, strip image with the primary field on it, secondary and auxiliary fields sharing one row, barcode at the bottomThe most common layout — and the one used by most loyalty programs: strip image with the primary field on it, and secondary and auxiliary fields sharing one row — up to 4 fields in total, kept short so they fit. The Coupon style is laid out the same way; it reads as an offer, where a store card reads as a membership.

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How this knowledge maps to the editor

  • The wallet draws the pass; you supply the ingredients. You can’t move the areas around — you decide what goes in each area.
  • Less is more: passes are glanced at, not read. A strong image, one primary value, and a couple of supporting fields beat a crowded layout.
  • Field values can be dynamic — showing each customer their own name, balance, or tier. See fields and dynamic content.
Want to go deeper? Apple’s developer documentation covers the underlying pass format in technical detail — see Wallet Passes on the Apple Developer site. You won’t need it to use the editor; everything merchant-relevant is covered in these pages.