Issuer Features
Discover the benefits, enablement steps,
and resources to get started.
In‑App Provisioning
Drive easy, secure card additions to Apple Wallet from your app
Boost provisioning rates by letting cardholders instantly add their eligible debit and credit cards to Apple Wallet directly from your iOS app — without manual entry. In‑App Provisioning also ensures continuous use, giving customers the ability to spend immediately, before their physical card arrives or if it is lost or stolen.
Cardholder experience
Within the issuer’s iOS app, cardholders simply log in, select their card, and tap Add to Apple Wallet. This initiates a secure provisioning flow that requires no manual card entry.
Fraud protection
Apple Pay is built with security and privacy at its core. Every step is designed to protect cardholders and reduce the impact of fraudulent activities for issuers.
- Issuer‑controlled authentication: In‑App Provisioning keeps authentication firmly in the issuer’s hands, defining which verification methods made available by Apple may be used by cardholders when adding a card to Apple Pay.
- Secure APIs and device‑based tokenization: Provisioning cards with In‑App Provisioning leverages Apple’s APIs, network tokenization, and fraud prevention processes. Apple Pay helps protect card numbers by storing the tokenized Device Primary Account Number (DPAN) — instead of the Funding Primary Account Number (FPAN) — inside the iPhone’s Secure Element.
- Cryptographic validation: Each provisioning request is accompanied by a nonce signature generated on the iPhone’s Secure Element, which is used to validate the provisioning request. The issuer then sends a cryptographic one‑time password (OTP), which is verified by the card network or payment network operator (PNO). After validation is complete, the issuer can complete authentication and approve the cardholder’s provisioning request.
Learn more about Apple’s Fraud Protection for Issuers.
Get started.
Enable In‑App Provisioning
- Partner with us.
- Review the requirements:
- Your card portfolio supports Apple Pay
- An iOS app approved by the App Store
- In‑App Provisioning Entitlement
- A secure issuer back end capable of card eligibility checks and token request handling
- Xcode 15 or later
- For issuers outside of the US, Apple allow‑listing for provisioning access
- Review Apple Pay’s In‑App Provisioning documentation and guidelines, including the Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR).*
- Update iOS app with support for card provisioning APIs.
- Establish secure connectivity with back‑end systems to validate card eligibility.
- Implement logic to check cardholder credentials and determine provisioning eligibility.
- Integrate with Apple Pay’s tokenization process to securely issue device account numbers (DPANs).
- Design and test app UI flows for a streamlined Add to Apple Wallet experience.
- Complete Apple’s certification process for provisioning.
- Deploy through an updated version of the issuer app.
- For questions about Apple Pay, contact Apple Pay Partner Support.
Explore the resources
Requirements and guidelines
Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR)*
Apple Pay Fraud Guidelines*
In‑App Provisioning Entitlement
Documentation
In‑App Provisioning: Technical overview
In‑App Provisioning Extension: Feature overview | Technical overview | Implementation overview
Tap to Add Card: Feature overview
Card Continuity and Multi‑Device Provisioning: Feature overview
*Available after Apple Pay partner onboarding
Frequently asked questions
In‑App Provisioning allows issuers to provide cardholders with an easy way to add their payment cards to Apple Wallet — right from the issuer’s iOS app. Cardholders can skip entering card details manually.
In‑App Provisioning helps issuers drive card enrollment by removing friction at the time of provisioning. It allows issuers to enable immediate use of the cardholder’s cards for Apple Pay if a card has been lost, stolen, or if it’s coming through the mail. It helps strengthen fraud protection by combining the security measures of both the issuer and Apple Pay.
Yes. Refer to the Issuer Functional Requirements (IFR) for details.
This feature can be enabled as part of a new or existing Apple Pay implementation. As with other Apple Pay features, Apple does not charge implementation fees for its enablement.
In‑App Provisioning makes it easy for cardholders to add their cards to Apple Wallet. The cardholder logs into their issuer app, selects the eligible card, taps the Add to Apple Wallet button on the screen, and then follows the steps to finish the process by authenticating with Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode. During this process, the cardholder will also have the opportunity to add their cards to their paired Watch and other eligible Apple devices if the issuer has enabled Multi‑Device Provisioning.
Yes. Issuers can choose from various verification methods (such as email, SMS, or call center support) to validate card ownership by the cardholders. This validation happens before issuers approve a card provisioning request. Learn more about Card Verification Methods here.
In‑App Provisioning is available in all countries and regions that support Apple Pay.
In order to enable In‑App Provisioning for their iOS app, issuers should:
- Make sure to have the following necessary entitlement:
- Private entitlement:
com.apple.developer.payment-pass-provisioning - Apple allow‑listing for provisioning access
- Private entitlement:
- Review In‑App Provisioning guidelines on the Apple Pay Demo resource.
- For further assistance, contact their payment network operator administrator.
Issuers should work with their payment network operator (PNO) to begin the process for requesting the Apple Pay In‑App Provisioning Entitlement. They may also refer to the In‑App Provisioning Entitlement Intake Form.
No, cardholders are not blocked from provisioning a card into Apple Wallet based solely on their location. Apple Pay provides a fraud recommendation to the issuer during provisioning. The issuer then decides where to allow provisioning based on that recommendation, along with any other data they choose to use.
Yes. Issuers can enhance the provisioning experience by enabling Multi-Device Provisioning, which allows cardholders to easily add their cards to all applicable devices logged in with the same Apple Account.
An issuer’s iOS app can detect which cards have already been provisioned by the cardholder into Apple Wallet by:
- Ensuring the card metadata has the correct configuration at the payment network operator (PNO) per 5.4 PNO Pass Metadata Configuration guidelines.
- Configuring for TestFlight in the production environment or Sandbox depending on your development capabilities.
- Following the Button Logic guidance outlined in 6.2.2 In‑App Provisioning Frontend Overview.
Some older APIs are still supported in newer iOS versions because there may be customers with devices unable to upgrade to a new iOS. This allows issuer apps that have already been implemented to support In‑App Provisioning.
When enabling In‑App Provisioning for new apps, the best practice is to support both versions of APIs to ensure compatibility with older devices and operating systems, as well as newer ones.
It is advised that issuers use a white border in dark backgrounds. This can be accomplished using AddPassToWalletButtonStyle.
Join the Apple Pay platform.
Optimization tips to increase conversion
- Support device authentication (Face ID, Touch ID, or passcode) to confirm the cardholder’s identity at app login.
- When opening, the app’s Home Screen should present a splash screen and/or banner with a direct link to In‑App Provisioning.
- Make the Add Card to Apple Wallet button easily discoverable within the Card section of the app. Complex journeys and designs can reduce successful provisioning.
- Once a card has been added to all eligible devices, replace the Add to Apple Wallet button with a button to open the card in Apple Wallet for use in payment. If space is limited, add text to indicate the card has already been added to Apple Wallet.
- Define short, concise names for ‘issuer’ and ‘issuer iOS mobile app’ within the APIs that pass to Apple from the issuer’s payment network operator (PNO) or service provider.
- Integrate both In‑App Provisioning and the In‑App Provisioning Extension to provide cardholders with the best experience for adding their card to Apple Pay.
More resources
Apple Pay Demo
in an interactive playground.
Apple Developer
build apps for Apple platforms.
Apple Business
presence across Apple apps.
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In the US, Apple Pay is a service provided by Apple Payments Services LLC, a subsidiary of Apple Inc. Neither Apple Inc. nor Apple Payments Services LLC is a bank. Any card used in Apple Pay is offered by the card issuer.
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Apple Pay is not available in all markets. View Apple Pay countries and regions.
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Features are subject to change. Some features, applications, and services may not be available in all regions or all languages and may require specific hardware and software.