How "Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont" does virtualise the world’s first movie tickets

This partnership between Apple and Pathé Gaumont is prestigious and strategic allowing to join forces in launching the first virtualised movie theater ticket.
Launched Tuesday, June 25th at the Pathé Beaugrenelle cinema in Paris, this solution is "the world first", says Jennifer Bailey, Apple Pay's World Vice President.

Apple Pay? Yes, because the payment is processed using Apple Pay on the iPhone.  
Once the reservation is confirmed, an e-Ticket is created as a Contactless Pass, which is placed in the Wallet of your iPhone. So, now the entire process is mobile, including the creation of an e-Ticket in your Wallet.

A virtualised pass:

What is the difference between an electronic ticket with a QR code booked online or through the Pathé Gaumont application? The results are similar but the QR code is not secure !
The purchased ticket for the movie at the schedule of your choice directly integrates the Wallet native application of your iPhone or Apple Watch. And even better, once in the cinema, there is no need to queue, no need to open the application or even unlock your smartphone, no need to present the purchased ticket. The process is easy, even more than presenting a boarding pass at the airport. To validate your entry, simply approach the iPhone from one of the kiosks at the Gaumont-Pathé. It works, even from the locked screen.

Behind this still unpublished scenario, the NFC chip integrated in the iPhone. It allows immediate recognition between the Apple device and the SpringCard NFC reader in movie theater.

800 movie theaters concerned

A nice pitch that aims to make the spectator's life easier. But not just that. This e-ticket also corresponds to "the reinvention of the film exhibition business", according to Aurélien Bosc, CEO of the Pathé Gaumont group. After the Pathé Gaumont Beaugrenelle, the group's 68 other complexes (nearly 800 movie theatres) should see the solution deployed on June 29, for the Film Festival.

When asked, Apple points out that this partnership is not exclusive. It is therefore conceivable that this e-ticket could be extended to other operator networks. In addition, Apple does not take any commission on the price of the ticket. 

The Android manna

However, by inaugurating the totally dematerialized cinema ticket, Apple wants to take the competition where some mastodons like Samsung Pay and Google Pay are crowding in. Pathé Gaumont would also welcome a solution similar to the one designed by Apple with these potential partners capable of reaching the 70 to 80% of Android smartphone users. A great potential windfall....

Soon, dematerialized concert tickets will be available

Launched four years ago, the Apple Pay solution continues to grow in an innovative way. One could soon imagine dematerialized concert or show tickets. Wanting to convert young people to its e-wallet as a priority, the Apple brand remains as always stingy in numbers and refuses to communicate on the number of Apple Pay users. She just said that one day "we will all end up paying with our phones".

original news article from 20 minutes (in french)

Get your Apple Wallet pass and try it for free !

Easily identify your visitors and simplify your access control gates with NFC Apple Wallet passes compatible with SpringCard NFC readers : https://springpass.springcard.com/

The Apple's Wallet NFC technology not only simplify the identification and the customer experience, but also avoiding you to develop a particular application, everything is managed in the native application: Wallet (iPhone 7 and above). 

When the user has a pass in his smartphone (received by email, sms, or download from the web), you even can use this new communication channel to push notifications, pre-defined triggers based on time or GPS position, or even update his available credits. 

For example, you can suggest that he turn off his iPhone during his movie screening. This allows you to keep the link between the brand and the user. 

In order to read and verify the authenticity of the virtual pass within cinemas, Les Cinémas Pathé Gaumont group uses Apple VAS certified SpringCard RFiD readers and  a dll.

Thanks to SpringCard know-how and Apple technology when the top of the smartphone (where the NFC antenna is located) is presented in front of the reader, it is not the latter's credit card that automatically pop up but the cinema pass. 

This ensures that the technology is easy to use by spectators in a single step.

On the security side, if f the user loses his smartphone, the ticket cannot be used by a third party because the user is asked to authenticate himself using TouchID or FaceID before presenting his passenger on the reader. 

This way, the spectator no longer risks losing his paper ticket and reduces his environmental impact by no longer having a physical medium for his film title.

SpringPass by SpringCard allows you to design your own passes and read it for free with a SpringCard device : https://springpass.springcard.com/

You want to try an NFC pass with a compatible reader ? Get a loan now ! https://www.springcard.com/en/device-loan-puck