Digital wallets are mainstream
Did you know that 2.6 billion people used digital wallets in 2020 globally? I learned about this statistic when switching to a digital wallet.
I have used traditional leather wallets for more than a decade in various cities: Berlin, Lahore, Trondheim, and Cambridge. I keep my credit card(s), driving license, etcetera in it.
Just recently, I started using a digital wallet Google Pay. A digital wallet is an app on a smartphone/wearable that enables contactless payment. Google Pay is straightforward to install. First, I scanned my credit card with my mobile camera. Google Pay stores my credit card number, CVC, and credit car expiry date in it’s cloud. Finally, I entered the verification code that I received from my bank over SMS.
Back in 1997, Coca cola introduced vending machines in Helsinki where one could buy a drink with a SMS. This is believed the the origin of mobile wallet. In 2011, Google launched its mobile wallet based on NFC. It worked on a only one mobile phone and only a few retailers supported them. This technology has come a long way since then.
Fast forward to 2020, digital wallets are mainstream with 33% of the 7.7 billion people using them. The corona pandemic further accelerated the adoption of e-Wallets. This uptick will continue in the post-COVID world due to increasing smartphone penetration (46% in 2020) and the ease of use of digital wallets.