If your wallet could get smarter, quieter and a little more helpful, iOS 27 is trying to do just that. Apple used WWDC to roll out a suite of Wallet and Apple Pay changes that tidy up frustrations, add useful tricks (like scanning physical cards into the app) and fold Apple Intelligence into everyday money chores.
Swipe, tap, pick: Apple Pay gets a clearer checkout
The checkout sheet in iOS 27 has been redesigned so selecting how you pay is obvious. Instead of hunting for a tiny button, you can now swipe between eligible cards directly on the main Apple Pay interface, or tap to open a grid that shows all your cards at a glance. Cards will surface contextual info — rewards balances, debit account amounts, pay‑later options and more — so you can make a choice with fewer surprises.
This is a direct response to complaints about the iOS 26 flow, where people often tapped the wrong area and ended up editing addresses instead of switching cards. Developers and merchants still control which details appear on the sheet, but the new gestures make the whole process feel less fragile.
Turn paper into passes (without third‑party hoops)
One of the bigger usability wins: Wallet can now create digital passes from physical membership and loyalty cards. Point the iPhone camera (Siri Mode) at a barcode and Wallet will generate a pass you can present from the phone. If you prefer to tinker, a manual Create a Pass flow offers three templates — Membership, Event and Standard — with editable fields and a barcode slot you fill by scanning.
The tooling is handy, though not limitless. Customization options are modest (a handful of background images and about a dozen colors), and the camera will happily capture whichever scannable code it sees first, so you might need to be deliberate when creating a pass. Apple also shipped a Pass Designer beta on macOS for developers and power users to preview and build passes.
Split the bill with a few taps
In the U.S., Wallet now leans on Apple Intelligence to make splitting receipts painless. Point your camera at a receipt in Siri Mode, let iPhone parse the items, tap what you owe (including your share of tax and tip) and send payment via Apple Cash. The feature appears across Wallet, Messages and the camera app. It sounds convenient — though its usefulness will depend on how many people in your group actually use Apple Cash.
The Siri Mode capabilities here tie into Apple’s broader push to surface AI inside system apps; Apple has been reshaping Siri and intelligence features across iOS this year, including a standalone Siri app that expands how those smarts are delivered standalone Siri app.
More keys, more barcodes, better park passes
iOS 27 expands what Wallet can show and do:
- Enhanced passes: The elevated design Apple introduced for boarding passes is expanding to loyalty, membership and gift cards, with informative tiles below the main pass.
- New barcode types: Wallet now supports EAN‑13, Code 39, Codabar and ITF barcodes, which helps with a wider range of real‑world passes.
- Enhanced hotel keys: Participating hotels will show trip details, booked activities and services right in Wallet.
- Disney park passes: Walt Disney World passes will display reservations, tickets and upcoming events in real time, with timely notifications to your iPhone and Apple Watch.
Order tracking is also arriving in more countries (Australia and Canada join the roster), so purchases that qualify will show shipment info inside Wallet like they already do in the U.S. and U.K.
Tap to Share, add funds, and merchant tie‑ins
Apple is experimenting with closer merchant integration. Later this year Tap to Share will work with Tap to Pay: you can tap to connect to a merchant's iPhone and securely share personal information, view your basket in real time and pay directly with Apple Pay without an extra tap. Apple also said eligible debit cards will offer a way to add funds from Wallet while checking out online.
These moves aim to make in‑store interactions smoother and give Wallet a more merchant‑aware presence at the point of sale.
Rough edges and rollout notes
Create a Pass is usable today but imperfect. Manually building a pass is straightforward once you learn the fields, but design options are limited and the auto‑scan experience depends on having Apple Intelligence features available on your device. That wider Siri AI rollout is still being phased in, so some camera‑driven automations will appear later for many users.
Apple has seeded iOS 27 to developers, with a public beta expected in July and a full release likely in September. If you want a sense of Apple’s recent software trajectory — more polish, more AI, and a focus on making system features genuinely helpful — look back at the tweaks shipped in iOS 26.4 for some continuity in that direction iOS 26.4 update.
If you live in the Wallet ecosystem, iOS 27 is less about flashy new hardware tricks and more about shaving friction off everyday tasks: paying, presenting passes, splitting dinner checks, and keeping travel details handy. It won’t fix every annoyance (pass organization remains something users ask for), but it does make the Wallet a noticeably more useful pocket assistant.
