Our wallets and purses have long been essential to running errands, enjoying a night out, and for any other activity where we might need to make a payment, show ID, or require tickets and passes. They hold all of our valuable personal information, including our debit and credit cards, driver’s licenses, state IDs, gift cards, loyalty cards, and transit passes. When we travel, our wallets and purses also house necessities like our passports and boarding passes. If we forget them when we go out somewhere, it’s a recipe for frustration—or at least that has traditionally been the case. Today, however, we’re reaching a turning point.
Most of these items can now be held digitally on our phones using a digital wallet, providing us with the freedom to leave a bulky wallet or handbag at home without being inconvenienced when it comes time to make a payment. This digital tool is having a profound effect on our real-world experiences, and its capabilities and convenience are leading many of us to welcome this new technology into our lives with open arms. In other words, the development of a digital wallet may lead us to forgo our traditional wallets, and likely in the near future. In this article, we’ll take a closer look at the qualities of digital wallets that are leading to their widespread adoption.
First Things First: What Is a Digital Wallet?
A digital wallet, sometimes also called a mobile wallet, is a secure platform that can hold debit and credit card information, allowing us to make payments simply by tapping our devices on the payment terminal the same way we’d tap a card. These wallets also enable us to make payments online with a single click, rather than typing in all of our shipping and billing information, as they save all of these details as well. What’s more, some digital wallets enable us to store boarding passes, concert tickets, and transit passes on them, which can then be scanned on our devices.
Because digital wallets can hold an array of essential payment information and passes, they offer immense convenience, making them highly appealing to many tech-savvy people. But beyond convenience, from their essential features to unexpected uses, these are the reasons digital wallets are replacing traditional wallets and handbags:
The Shift Toward All-in-One Mobile Solutions
Part of the convenience of digital wallets is that they offer an all-in-one mobile solution for making payments, storing essential information, and granting us access to services and events. Through popular digital wallets like Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, and Venmo, making payments in person and online can be done from a single location, and we can even facilitate peer-to-peer (P2P) transactions. No longer do we have to go through the additional steps of inputting our payment information when making purchases or log in to our personal banking accounts to pay back friends and colleagues for shared expenses like coffee or dinner out. Everything can be done within a single platform and just a few taps—it’s hard to get more convenient than that.
Security, Simplicity, and the Appeal of Minimalism
When we’re dealing with our personal financial information and personal details contained on our ID and boarding passes, security is, understandably, a significant concern. Established digital wallets take this concern seriously and offer security in storing our sensitive information and in making payments through their service. Digital wallets use a process known as tokenization to facilitate payments. Through this, our data, like our credit or debit card number, is given a random, unique number with each purchase. The number can only be processed by a financial service provider. This keeps our information private and protected.
Digital wallets are also protected by other layers of security we implement on our devices, like our phone passwords, biometric identification, and multi-factor authentication. This means that if we lose our phone or it’s stolen, our financial information is protected by multiple layers of security, making it difficult for people to steal or use it without our knowledge. The security of digital wallets lets us have a streamlined approach to our payment needs and frees us from carrying multiple items when walking out the front door.
Everyday Transactions Made Seamless
Since digital wallets allow us to make payments from our devices, it’s easy to use them for everyday transactions like grocery shopping and grabbing a bite to eat while on the go. We can also easily split bills through digital wallets by sending and receiving money to our peers. Essentially, digital wallets make the process of spending money seamless. We don’t have to sort through a stuffed wallet to find the right card for the payment or to find loyalty cards or gift cards—everything is organized and easy to find in our digital wallets.
Another feature that makes digital wallets convenient and adds to the seamless user experience is their ability to hold receipts and track orders. Rather than keeping tabs on physical receipts or inbox updates, we can find everything we need within our digital wallet.
Beyond the Basics: Identification, Travel, Event Access, and Unexpected Uses
While digital wallets are primarily known for capabilities like making and receiving payments, they can also serve as valuable tools for holding onto unexpected credentials and digital assets like our IDs, including digital copies of our driver’s licenses and state IDs, transit passes, boarding passes, hotel room keys, and event tickets. As long as we have our phones when we leave our homes or hotel rooms, we have everything we need.
Digital wallets are also growing in use across digital experiences, spanning streaming services, gaming, and more, with platforms like Netflix and Steam accepting popular digital wallets such as PayPal, Google Pay, and Apple Wallet. There’s even a growing number of US casino sites accepting Cash App payments. Digital wallets are increasingly being adopted across industries, making them convenient options for consumers and lucrative for businesses.
Conclusion: Why You Might Ditch the Handbag (or Already Have)
Digital wallets offer security and convenience that puts the functionality of traditional wallets to shame, prompting widespread adoption for our regular spending. Many of us are already moving away from physical wallets, and this trend may become the new norm in time.
