A points balance is the running score of a loyalty program: points earned on purchases, spent on rewards, and held by the member in between. On a wallet pass it is a live field, often the most prominent one, updated by push update as soon as the balance changes, so the pass always shows the truth without the member asking anyone.
The update is also a moment. A balance change can carry a lock screen message, "you just earned 120 points", which lands seconds after the purchase, while the visit is still happening. That immediacy is most of what separates a balance on a pass from a balance in an account portal the member checks twice a year.
Balances feed the program's targeting. A segment can select members above or below a threshold, close to a reward, or sitting on points about to expire, and an automation can fire when points are earned. In messages, placeholders drop the live balance into the text, so "you're 80 points from a free wash" is computed per member, not written by hand.
Points measure value where a stamp card measures visits, and the choice between them is a business question: points fit variable basket sizes, stamps fit one-coffee-at-a-time rhythms. Either way the balance belongs on the pass, because a score nobody sees changes nobody's behavior.