The GDPR-native alternative to PassKit

PassKit is a solid enterprise wallet platform — they call themselves the "Operating System for Mobile Wallet Engagement"and they power loyalty cards, boarding passes and tickets for airlines, sports teams and large retailers in over 140 countries. If you're running the loyalty program for Jetstar or the Cleveland Cavaliers, PassKit is probably the right fit.

But if you're running a bakery, a coffee shop, a small hotel chain or an independent retailer, three things usually lead SMBs to look for a PassKit alternative. First, the pricing is usage-based and hidden — you need a sales call to get a real quote, which slows you down and makes budgeting hard. Second, setup is treated as an integration project, not a self-serve product — you're expected to have developers or to hire a PassKit partner agency. Third, while PassKit is technically GDPR-compliant, the default data hosting is US-based; EU data residency is an upsell for enterprise tiers.

That's the gap HanyPass was built to fill. Same wallet platform capability. SMB-first pricing. EU-native infrastructure. Five-minute setup.

Since the invalidation of Privacy Shield in 2020 and the stricter interpretations of Schrems II, EU data residencyis no longer a nice-to-have for retailers — it's becoming a compliance requirement. If you're a restaurant in France, a boutique in Berlin or a coffee chain in Madrid, your customers' email addresses and loyalty history are personal data that, under GDPR, should stay in the EU unless you have specific legal basis otherwise.

PassKit offers EU hosting as a premium add-on. HanyPass is EU-native by default: data is stored in Supabase EU (Ireland and Germany), there's no transatlantic transfer by default, and the DPA (Data Processing Agreement) is signed as part of standard subscription terms. For EU retailers concerned about GDPR, this removes an entire layer of legal risk.

This doesn't mean HanyPass is only for Europe — the platform works anywhere in the world, and US/UK/Asian customers still benefit from EU-grade privacy guarantees.

If you're running loyalty at enterprise scale — tens of millions of passes, multi-country deployments with complex regional customizations, heavy API integrations with existing CRM and data warehouse stacks — PassKit is a mature, proven choice. Their SOC 2 Type II certification, 99.5% uptime SLA, and ability to handle the scale of airlines and major sports leagues is real.

HanyPass is deliberately not trying to compete there. We're built for the thousands of independent merchants and small chains who want the same wallet capabilities at SMB pricing and SMB speed. If you have the budget and team for enterprise tooling, stick with PassKit. If you're a 1-to-100-location business, HanyPass is the direct PassKit alternative.