Digital wallets bridge the gap between old and new with a modern take on everyday financial transactions.
As the financial world moves increasingly online, the need for digital storage of your assets becomes more and more essential.
From contactless payments to secure storage solutions, a digital wallet provides the ease of use, peace of mind, and efficiency to spend, save, and invest.
In this post, you will learn about the different types of digital wallets that you should be thinking about as you search for one.
We’ll also cover the best digital available wallets on the market today, and much more.
6 Best Digital Wallets for 2024
Cash wallets are apps or web-based accounts that allow you to store money or make payments digitally.
These wallets link with your bank account, debit card, or credit card, and let users make peer-to-peer or retail payments from a mobile device.
Let’s take a look at each of the best options available today:
1. Cash App
Cash App is a Wallet app available in both the App Store and the Google Play Store.
With the app, you can link your bank account and send and receive money to anyone with an account.
Cash App is free to use, and you can easily find other users with their unique tag, phone number, or QR code.
Recently, Cash App has also moved into the neobank space with a digital bank account option and a cryptocurrency exchange.
2. PayPal
PayPal is the best-known digital wallet and is available for both personal and business transactions.
With PayPal, you can make purchases, securely send and receive money, and get paid by customers.
The platform is used by more than 300 million people and has made its name on industry-leading fraud protection and transaction monitoring.
Your PayPal account stores your bank account, credit card, and debit card information, and you can choose your preferred payment method at checkout.
3. Venmo
Venmo, which PayPal owns, is a mobile app designed for digital peer-to-peer transactions.
So whether you’re splitting the bill at a restaurant, paying rent, or just buying a friend a cup of coffee, Venmo allows you to send instant payments.
You can even use the app for retail purchases if the vendor is set up on the app.
Venmo stores your card and bank information and makes withdrawals when you send money.
When you receive funds, they’re stored in your Venmo balance until you cash out, so you can make payments from your available balance without taking additional money from your bank account.
The important thing to keep in mind is that while bank account and debit transactions are free, credit card use from your Venmo account comes with a transaction fee.
Venmo has also introduced its own debit and credit cards that allow for convenience and added perks while using the app.
4. Samsung Pay
Samsung Pay is a digital wallet for Android devices that stores your credit and debit cards, membership cards, and gift cards.
You can use everything in your wallet for retail or online purchases and earn cash back rewards in the process.
The feature is available on all modern Samsung smartphones and is compatible with Visa, Mastercard, and American Express.
Just enter your card information, open the app, and tap your phone at checkout for a contactless payment.
Samsung Pay also saves your card information for easy entry when online shopping.
5. Apple Pay
Apple Pay is the featured digital wallet for iOS. The app allows users to make payments in person, within iOS apps, or online when using Safari.
Payments are quick and secure, and Apple Pay is accepted at more than 85% of retailers nationwide.
It takes just a few minutes to add your cards to the wallet, which comes standard on all iPhones.
You can also use Apple Cash for peer-to-peer payments, which you can easily send in your Messenger app.
6. Google Pay
Google Play is Google’s digital payment option for both Android and iOS devices.
The app is a comprehensive wallet that lets you send and receive money, make purchases, earn rewards, and develop a better understanding of your spending habits.
Once you add your cards, you can make contactless payments, make private transfers, and even order takeout from participating restaurants.
Google Pay organizes all of your connected accounts, so you’ll get a full financial picture within the app. You can look at weekly summaries and track trends over time so that you know exactly where your money is going.
What is a Digital Wallet?
Digital wallet is a blanket term that covers a variety of options for online storage and access to funds and credit and offline storage for digital assets.
Digital wallets can come in the form of peer-to-peer payment apps, contactless purchasing platforms, and hardware similar to a flash drive.
Depending on the wallet, you can store and access everything from debit and credit cards to cryptocurrency and non-fungible tokens (NFTs)
In this post, we’ll cover more traditional wallets that house your funds.
FAQs
How do you use a digital wallet?
Each wallet will be a little different, but there are some common consistencies.
For example, with cash-based wallets like Venmo or Cash App, you link the wallet with your bank account, and it acts as an intermediary between the account and whoever you are paying.
Are digital wallets safe?
It depends on the wallet and sometimes on who you ask. Just like anything in the digital space, digital wallets are subject to hackers and malware, but the best wallets have robust preventative measures in place.
Password protection and device storage are essential to keeping everything in your digital wallet secure.
All of the wallets covered here have a solid reputation for security, but it’s always important to take individual measures to safeguard your financial assets.
How do I choose a digital wallet?
The first step is determining what sort of wallet you need. Lots of users will want to take advantage of multiple wallets to cover all their bases.
From there, it’s a matter of addressing what you need the wallet to do for you.
Whether you simply need a digital payment app or you’re looking for secure storage, choosing the correct type of wallet ensures that your needs are met.
How many digital wallets can I use?
As many as you want. Since digital wallet apps don’t actually store your funds (just your bank account or credit card information), there’s no limit to how many wallets you can link up to.
Having multiple wallets gives you more options when it comes to how you choose to pay. For example, a local vendor might accept Venmo, but not Cash App.
Of course, if you’re an iPhone user, you’ll already have Apple Pay, but downloading Google Pay as well could make sending payments to Android users a little simpler.
At the end of the day, it’s up to you, but there’s little risk involved with holding onto multiple quality digital wallets.
Which Digital Wallet is Best for You?
We might not be a cashless society just yet, but with the wide range of easy-to-use digital wallets and alternative currencies out there, we aren’t far off.
Digital options have exploded in recent years, and there are now dozens of widely-used, fast, and convenient options.
A digital wallet can wear plenty of hats, supplanting everything from cash to splitting the bill to your actual, physical wallet.
With secure payments and storage, plus added perks like cashback rewards, the switch to a digital wallet starts to make more and more sense.
It’s important to note that there’s no limit on the number of wallets you can utilize.
No matter what your needs are, you should now have a pretty good idea of the best digital wallets available today.
Now it’s just a matter of trying them out and seeing what works best for you.
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