A Tale Of Two Wallets

Look at the traditional check-out lane and you’ll find consumer after consumer digging through a stuffed wallet looking for the credit card or cash they’ll need to make their purchase. With the introduction of retail loyalty cards, and those same wallets are nearly bursting at the seams.

Could a change be on the horizon? Perhaps, considering physical wallets:

• Are getting bulkier and more difficult to manage, and
• Can easily be forgotten or stolen.

The growth in store-branded credit and loyalty programs are making it more difficult for consumers to manage their wallets. Plus, the increasing number of credit and loyalty cards coupled with identification and other items sharing the same wallet space leaves today’s consumer wallets a ripe target for thieves and a financial risk to consumers and retailers.

As mobile and digital payment options gain traction consumers are discovering a sleeker counterpart to their ballooning physical wallet: the digital (or mobile) wallet.

A digital wallet electronically manages payment and other activities that would typically be handled with physical cards. Everything from mobile payments to retailer loyalty programs to bank accounts to health insurance cards and age-verification information can be included in a digital wallet.

A number of digital wallet options have emerged, including Apple Pay, Samsung Pay, and Android Pay. Generally these solutions work by allowing consumers to use a mobile device (like a smartphone) to pay for merchandise via a wireless near field communication (NFC) link with a retailer’s payment terminal. A simple tap or scan of the mobile device, and consumers can quickly make a secure payment or verify their credentials.