January 11, 2023| By USALLIANCE |Personal Finance
Pay by Phone Using Mobile Pay Instead of Fumbling for Your Wallet at Checkout. Contactless payment is becoming increasingly available at checkout counters across the country, and paying for your daily purchases with a digital wallet has never been easier. There are several popular mobile payment apps like Google Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay. While all of these apps are similar, Google Pay is the app of choice for Android phones, Apple Pay works best with Apple devices, and Samsung Pay offers the widest acceptance across digital wallet apps. Once you've downloaded the app, you'll need to load your credit and debit card information and finish setting up the app with your personal authentication process. Once this step is complete, your new mobile payment app will be ready for use. But why would you want to use one of these mobile payment apps? There are several major benefits of switching to a contactless payment method for your everyday purchases:
Convenience
The biggest and most obvious draw of mobile payments is their incredible convenience. No more shuffling through cards at the checkout counter or counting out cash while the people standing in line behind you growing impatient. Just pull out your phone, open your digital wallet app, and tap or wave your phone near the payment-enabled terminal – it’s that easy. With mobile payments, checking out in any store can take just seconds from start to finish.
Security
Using a mobile payment app to complete a purchase has several security advantages over traditional payment methods.
First, it eliminates the need to carry around cash or credit cards, which always pose the risk of being lost or stolen. Misplaced credit cards in particular can be a nightmare for consumers and make them vulnerable to identity theft.
Second, mobile payment apps use extra security measures to protect the user's data, such as encrypting personal information and utilizing biometric authentication features like fingerprint scans and facial recognition.
Finally, each transaction done via a mobile payment app is tokenized. This involves a one-time code generated by the payment terminal, also known as a "token." The token is used to complete the transaction in place of the buyer's payment information. The token cannot be used for any other transaction and is useless if hacked, protecting the buyer from fraud.
Budgeting and Tracking Expenses
Digital wallets can be easily integrated with money-management apps, making budgeting easy. Every transaction will be instantly recorded for future reference and review. Additionally, retailers generally offer electronic receipts with mobile payments instead of easily misplaced paper receipts.
Safety
Since the world entered an alternate reality of COVID-19, mobile-payment apps have enjoyed a boost in popularity. Retailers have seen a rise in contactless payments since the beginning of 2020 because consumers were wary of shopping in brick-and-mortar locations and were hesitant to handle germ-infested cash. Inserting a debit card or credit card into a public payment terminal that processes payments for hundreds of cards a day is not a much more sanitary option.
Mobile payment apps enable consumers to complete a purchase without making physical contact with unclean terminals. Just pull out your phone, and your transaction is a quick wave or tap away. It’s the perfect way to pay for purchases without exposing yourself to germs.
Mobile payments may have seen a major boost in popularity when COVID-19 emerged, but they are not going away anytime soon. No matter what type of device you use, there is a mobile payment app out there perfect for you. Need to learn more of the basics about how mobile pay and mobile wallets work? Check out our blog Everything You Need to Know About Mobile Wallets. If you’re ready to start using contactless payment but need help getting started, check out our quick and helpful video tutorial Setting Up Your Mobile Wallet.
