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Adding a card

Open Cards and tap Add card, or open the Scan tab. Allow camera access when asked, keep the barcode visible, avoid glare, and hold your device steady. Check the scanned number before saving.

If the camera is unavailable or a barcode is difficult to read, choose Enter number manually. Manual entry works without camera permission.

Camera permission

If you previously declined permission, open your device’s Settings, find CardVault, and enable Camera access. You can continue using manual entry if you prefer.

Expiration reminders

Save an expiration date in a card's details, then open Settings and enable Expiration Reminders. Allow notifications when asked. Choose 1, 3, or 7 days before expiration; reminders are scheduled at 9:00 AM before expiration and on the expiration morning. Only future reminders are scheduled, so a card added after 9:00 AM on its expiration day will not receive an alert.

If permission was declined, use Open Notification Settings in CardVault to change it in your device's Settings. Focus, Scheduled Summary, and your notification preferences can delay or hide alerts. Reminders are a convenience; check important expiration dates yourself.

Editing or deleting a card updates its reminders. Tapping a reminder opens the card's details if it is still saved. CardVault queues the next 64 reminders; open the app regularly to refresh upcoming reminders, and after changing time zones to update the local notification times.

Trouble opening your wallet

Tap Try Again on the recovery screen. If the problem continues, close and reopen CardVault, then contact support. Retry opens the same local wallet; it does not intentionally reset your cards.

Avoid deleting or reinstalling the app as a troubleshooting step, because this can remove your locally stored cards. Support cannot access your wallet remotely or guarantee recovery from a damaged database.

Contact support

What to include in a support message

• Your CardVault version and build, shown in Settings and on the recovery screen.
• Your iOS version and device model.
• A description of what happened and the steps that led to it.

Do not send membership numbers, barcode images, personal notes, or wallet database files.

Exporting cards

Open Settings and tap Export Cards. Choose where to save the JSON file in the system file interface. The export contains every saved card and any assigned custom tags, including card numbers, descriptions, notes, favorites, and expiration dates. App preferences are not included.

The file is not encrypted. Store it somewhere private and share it only with people or services you trust. Do not send exports to support.

Importing cards

Open Settings, tap Import Cards, and choose a JSON file previously exported by CardVault. The app validates the file before showing how many cards are new or already saved. Confirm Import to add the new cards and tags.

Import keeps your existing cards unchanged. Cards with identifiers already saved on this device are skipped, so importing the same unmodified export again does not add those cards twice. Cards created separately can have different identifiers even if their numbers match. Custom tags are matched by identifier or normalized name and reused when possible.

If import fails, the app leaves your wallet unchanged. Choose an original CardVault export rather than a file from another app. The supported format is version 1, with limits of 20 MiB, 10,000 cards, and 10,000 custom tags. Malformed data, unsupported formats, invalid fields, duplicate identifiers, and missing tag references are rejected. Import cannot verify whether a physical card is valid or accepted by a retailer.

Deleting cards and managing backups

You can delete individual cards from their details or clear all cards in Settings. CardVault has no account or app-operated cloud synchronization. Device backups depend on your system settings and backup provider. Exported files remain wherever you saved or shared them until you delete those copies separately.

For a step-by-step guide to managing your wallet, visit Your data & permissions.

Read the Privacy Policy for information about local storage, support email, and these public pages.

A few common questions