A mobile or digital wallet is a way to carry your credit card or debit card information in a digital form on your mobile device. Instead of using your physical plastic card to make purchases, you can pay with your smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch. This can be either using cryptocurrency or real money which is often pre-loaded onto a digital account.
In theory, according to the BBC, it is safer to use than a physical credit or debit card as the owner does not need to reveal their account number at point of purchase, and even if someone was able to intercept the transmitted encrypted information, they could not re-use it to authorize further payments. Android pay launching in the UK in the next few months and Apple Pay are two of the big players. Google Wallet has a tap-to-pay feature similar to Android pay, but Gizmodo report from now on it will be marketed as a way of transferring money between friends over the Internet.
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