Punchh Platform Release Notes - 14 January 2026 Deployment
The updates described in these release notes and the affected/linked documentation will not be available in the Punchh platform until the target deployment date.
Smart Passes
Google Pass NFC Capabilities
We now support an NFC-enabled Google Loyalty Pass, which allows guests to easily tap-to-identify at the POS. Guests using an Android device can be instantly recognized by tapping their phone, no phone number or email required. This delivers the same fast, seamless in-store experience already available with Apple Loyalty Pass, helping you reduce check-out friction and offer consistent loyalty experiences across mobile wallets. (CAM-6795, PDOC-3523)
See the following article(s) for more details:
- Google Passes (Support Portal)
Loyalty
Game Management Enhancement
We have introduced a new Games management capability in the Punchh dashboard that gives brand admins full control over storing and managing game URLs (pre-generated from the PAR Games dashboard). A new Games page is now available, allowing admins to add, view, and manage games URLs through a familiar, paginated table experience similar to Locations. Each game can be configured with a name, description, URL, status (Active/Inactive), and supported channel (Mobile, Web, or both), making it easy to control where and how games are exposed. Once configured, these game URLs are securely exposed via Punchh APIs and can be seamlessly used across mobile apps and web experiences. The setup also supports JWT-based game links, ensuring each guest receives a unique, masked URL at run time without manual intervention. This update improves flexibility, security, and speed for launching game-based experiences, while maintaining role-based access so only brand admins and above can manage game configurations. (LPE-1513, PDOC-3517)
See the following article(s) for more details:
- PAR Games: How to Set Up a Game (Support Portal)
Update to Barcode Look-up Methods
In the barcode search feature, admins can now filter receipts by choosing a start time and end time within a day. (LPE-1656, PDOC-3518)
See the following article(s) for more details:
- Barcode Lookup (Support Portal)
Reporting and Analytics
Upcoming Database Schema Changes, February 09 - Data Type
As a part of database maintenance on February 09, 2026, we are updating the data type of several columns from 'int' to 'bigint'. Review the Database Schema and Data Field Change Announcements for the complete list. (DL-2308, PDOC-3514)
Developers Corner
Fetch Games API Added
We have introduced a new API (GET /api2/mobile/par_games) that allows loyalty guests to retrieve configured game URLs from the Punchh platform through an authenticated request. This enables mobile and web applications to dynamically display or launch the correct game experiences based on brand configurations. Only active game URLs are returned to ensure applications always reference the latest valid links. (LPE-1514, PDOC-3413)
See the following article(s) for more details:
- Fetch Games (Developer Portal)
API Support for Google Wallet NFC Tokens
We’ve enhanced the User Look-up API (GET /api/pos/users/search) and Find User Redemptions 2.0 API (GET /api/pos/users/find) to support NFC tokens from Google Wallet loyalty passes. This allows POS systems to identify guests via tap-to-identify using an NFC-enabled Android device, with no manual entry of a phone number or email required. With this update, POS systems can send an NFC token read from a Google Wallet pass to the User Look-up API to securely retrieve the associated guest profile and loyalty data. This experience mirrors existing Apple Wallet NFC functionality, ensuring consistent behavior across mobile wallet platforms. The NFC token can also be used with the Find User Redemptions 2.0 API to retrieve the user_id required for processing redemptions using the Redemptions 2.0 APIs. (CAM-6795, PDOC-3442, PDOC-3474)
See the following article(s) for more details:
- User Look-up and Fetch Balance (Developer Portal)
- Find User (Redemptions 2.0) (Developer Portal)
- Implement Google Pass Integration With POS (Developer Portal)
Asynchronous Support Gifting Enabled by Default
We have updated the Asynchronous Support Gifting API (POST /api2/dashboard/users/support_gifting) to remove the 422 error response example for the feature flag being disabled, as the Asynchronous Support Gifting feature is now enabled by default for all brands. (LPE-1583, PDOC-3520)
See the following article(s) for more details:
- Asynchronous Support Gifting (Developer Portal)