Whilst many commentators were discussing the features of the iPhone 5, one announcement that received less notice was the introduction of Passbook in iOS6. Many industry figures had been holding out for NFC to be introduced in Apple’s new handset, so Passbook barely counted as a consolation prize. However, this feature may turn out to be a significant channel for brands and consumers.

The system has had a soft launch from Apple – not a bad idea after the maps fiasco. Some of the first for Passbook apps for McDonalds (France), Eventbrite and Airbnb were recently released in iTunes and early signs appear to show high adoption levels. Online ticketing business, Eventbrite, said that over 20,000 tickets had been sold through Passbook in the first week. The French supermarket, Auchan, has just announced that 10,000 people registered for a Passbook loyalty card within a few days of its release.

Apple’s reasoning behind Passbook is that it creates a frictionless experience by delivering barcodes within apps and negates the need to install millions of readers for NFC chips. It would seem that the advantage for consumers is familiarity combined with additional features such as location services (useful for Airbnb) or event reminders (useful for Eventbrite).