MoviePass just brought back its signature physical credit card when it relaunched its movie theater subscription service, but it’s already ready to go virtual. The movie subscription service on Wednesday announced a new virtual card that will support online ticketing, along with other updates that include access to premium movie formats like Imax screenings.
MoviePass CEO Stacy Spikes told CNET that the virtual cards will start showing up within its app, and customers can either choose to buy a ticket in person, as MoviePass has traditionally worked, or can copy the card information into any movie ticketing website to buy a ticket in advance.Â
The process to buy a movie ticket using MoviePass is otherwise largely the same as before. You select a showtime in the MoviePass app, and then use the MoviePass card to purchase that ticket whether in person or using the website. The card is used in conjunction with a credits system that MoviePass now uses, in which each showtime is worth a varying number of credits — less popular showtimes like weekdays and matinees cost less than popular times like weekend evening showtimes. When buying an online ticket you’ll see a slightly higher point cost to accommodate online convenience fees.
Spikes said that MoviePass subscribers with physical cards will still be able to use them, and new customers will still get the option to receive a physical card if they would like. MoviePass plans to eventually sunset physical cards entirely, but will be using a hybrid approach for theaters that do not yet support contactless payments over a phone.
“Part of it has to do with when you put the card into the app. A lot of the kiosks don’t have the capability to use Apple Pay. So you still have to use the magnetic strip if you want to do it on location. So we just don’t know the timing or the theater is going to update their kiosks or…
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