Digital wallets: What are they and what are their advantages?

They are becoming more and more a part of our lives digital wallets. More and more consumers are using their e-wallet to make payments. Digital wallets or simply “wallets” provide the possibility of contactless transactions using a portable device (smartphone or smart watch – smartphone or smartwatch), replacing the plastic of the physical card. With simple steps, the owner of the card can insert it into the wallet that makes it easier for him – depending on the operating system of the device he has (Android or iOS) – and carry out his daily transactions through his device, completely contactless and without use of a PIN, as it is identified with biometric data, such as a fingerprint, face recognition (Face ID) or with the use of a mobile device code.

But what are the comparative advantages of digital wallets in relation to other ways of trading? To begin with, wallets provide remarkable convenience, simplifying the everyday life of the modern consumer, who no longer needs to always have his wallet with him and can carry out any transaction of low or high amount – from morning coffee to home appliance purchases – at any merchant with a contactless POS terminal, just using your smartphone or smartwatch. But beyond the simplification of transactions, the security factor is also very important, as the wallets are “shielded” by modern tokenization technology, which protects the payment card from the display of its number, as a unique encrypted one is created in its place number (token), exclusively for carrying out each transaction. Therefore, transactions carried out through wallets, leveraging the power of tokenization, are more secure and protect more widely from the risks of interception of card details (e.g. theft of wallet / theft of plastic card, copying of card details from the plastic its form, etc.).

The new technologies that integrate wallets and the devices that support them ensure convenience, speed and above all the security of transactions, making digital wallets a daily tool that gains the trust of more and more users.

But can the e-wallet integrate all of a consumer’s debit, credit and prepaid cards regardless of the card’s issuing bank? It is at the discretion of each bank to choose which cards – issued by itself – its customers can include in the digital wallets it has available for use.

It is noted that her Wallet Google officially made his debut in Greece. The Wallet app for Android mobile accepts credit and debit cards, as well as gift cards, student IDs, and tickets, as long as they’re compatible with it.

A similar Wallet application is also found on Apple’s iPhone. It’s where your credit and debit cards, ATM cards, boarding passes, tickets, car keys and more are safely stored — all in one place.

According to data from Alpha Bank on wallets, in addition to young people, a satisfactory degree of penetration is also observed among older consumers (45 years and older), which proves that progress is being made in the wider diffusion of technology and in the digital transition of society, in the direction of a culture of contactless transactions in the country.

AMPE –

View the news feed and get the latest news.