5 Reasons to Use a Mobile Wallet

More people are turning to mobile wallets for a quick, easy, and more secure way to make purchases.

You can hardly go into a convenience store these days without seeing a mobile wallet option such as Google Pay, Samsung Pay, and Apple Pay. These mobile wallets can hold your credit and debit cards—along with other cards—in your smartphone.

Here are five reasons to be part of this trend.

1. Mobile wallets offer increased security. They're safer than carrying a credit card or cash in your wallet. Information stored in mobile wallets is encrypted, so the details of your credit card, for instance, aren't accessible to others. When mobile wallets transmit data to make payments, they never transmit your actual account numbers. Instead, they use encrypted payment codes. Also, your phone can't be opened without your fingerprint or a personal identification number, so getting to your data is much easier than opening up your wallet or pocketbook.

2. Retailers widely accept payment by mobile wallet. Samsung Pay can be used at more than 10 million U.S. stores, Apple Pay at more than 3 million stores, and Google Pay at more than 1 million stores. The numbers will grow as retailers upgrade their payment card readers. These come with near field communication (NFC) technology, which is used by mobile wallets to transact payments with cash registers.

3. Mobile wallets can be used for online shopping. Increasingly, retailers are making it easy to access your mobile wallet while you're on their websites. That can make online checkout much more convenient, removing the need to type in so many payment card numbers, especially on phone screens.

4. Loyalty rewards programs can be stored in a mobile wallet. When you go shopping and use your mobile wallet to buy, say, breakfast at Dunkin' Donuts, any points or discounts can be automatically applied at checkout. No need to carry a key chain with lots of store tags attached.

5. Fast and convenient checkout. Make sure to always keep your phone charged! If your phone battery runs out of power, you'll have to scramble to find cash or, possibly, an old-fashioned credit card.