What is a digital wallet and how does it work?
E-wallet or in other words, a digital wallet is a system that securely stores a person’s payment information. Moreover, an e-wallet will enable users to store user’s cards digitally for payments where the transaction can be made online through an electronic device. At the moment, there are plenty of e-wallets in the market and some e-wallet allow the user to add their driver's license, loyalty cards, insurance cards, and etc.
How does an e-wallet works?
In order to fully understand how an e-wallet works, there are two primary components that you must understand, which is the software and information. Firstly, the software component helps to store your personal information as well as providing security measures and encryption of the data. On the other hand, the information component is a database of details provided by the user such as names, shipping addresses, payment methods, amount to be paid and the debit/credit card details.
Furthermore, the user will need to set up their e-wallet and all they have to do is to install the software on their devices. Once the software is installed, the user will need to enter their relevant information that is required. The next step is how to make a purchase online with an e-wallet that you have set up? Typically, most of the e-wallets will fill in your details automatically on the payment form. In order to activate the e-wallet, the user will need to enter their passwords. Next, once the online payment has been successful, the user will no longer need to fill in an order form on a different website. The reason is that the information is already stored in the database and will be updated automatically.
Why have an e-wallet?
One of the main reasons for the existence of an e-wallet is convenience. For instance, an e-wallet will help to reduce the need for carrying a physical wallet. Besides that, the chances of stealing an e-wallet rather than a physical one is very low. However, the disadvantage of an e-wallet as compared to a physical one is the owner’s purchasing habits information. The reason is because companies could get hold of the owner’s information.
Another advantage of using the e-wallet is the user can make two payments using two separate cards. In addition to that, the user can switch between both cards depending on their leisure, but that is unless both cards' information are kept in their e-wallet. The most common feature in every ewallet is the use of QR codes. Basically, the QR code is a two-dimensional square barcode that can store encoded data. Most of the time the data is a link to a website (URL). What is more, QR codes will allow the user to make a quick completion of transactions since the user has to scan the code. Nevertheless, not every e-wallet in the market will use QR codes. As a result, the user will need to do some research first before committing to a decision, if QR codes are a feature that the user is looking for.
Conclusion
All in all, we are moving into an era of a cashless society where e-wallets offer convenience and it is secure to use. If you are planning on using e-money and making digital transactions, e-wallet is the solution because it offers you a strong level of security and overall it is very convenient for carrying out.