Mobile wallet apps are highly in demand these days. Many customers prefer buying online and if your business lacks a Mobile wallet app, it means you are lagging behind. Whether you have an online or offline business, there is a need of e-wallet.

The flow of mobile transactions is expected to increase 50% by the year 2019. There is a great need of safe and secured payment method that allows users to make financial transactions like buying products/services, transfer and redeem money etc. The culture of mobile wallet gives your business a cutting edge solution and makes it stand ahead of its competitors.

Now, what does mobile wallet app mean and how it is beneficial to your business? In this post, I will help you know the importance of mobile wallet app and why you should have one.

What is mobile wallet?

Mobile wallet is an app that connects different types of payment methods, such as credit card, debit card and digital currency. It also helps in connecting additional things such as coupon codes, loyalty cards etc. These days, consumers are dependent on their mobile devices. They prefer using their mobile devices as their wallets. Whether it is storing card/vouchers or buying products, users want their devices to act like one stop destination.

A mobile wallet provides you with the best and easiest way to make payment for your purchase. Mobile wallet app development can turn any smart device into e-wallet. Besides making payments, mobile wallet allows users to store coupons, loyalty cards and vouchers to process them faster. This feature of mobile wallet is highly beneficial to the users, especially when they get cash back.

Integrating mobile wallet with apps has become the need of era. There are a number of factors to consider while creating a mobile wallet app. A professional mobile app development company can help you in this regard. We at Promatics technologies provide a wide range of mobile app development solutions and mobile wallet is one of those solutions.

How big mobile payment industry is?

Mobile payment industry is very big and it is growing at a rate of 60% every year. In a survey, it was found that more than 5 billion people use mobile phones for financial transaction. A recent report noted that 39% of users in the USA make payments through mobiles. Because of this growth and potential, we can expect the mobile payments industry to meet the increasing demand of users.

Mobile payments have been evolving at a fast pace, where more and more brands are stepping into the industry to avail the benefits of mobile wallet. Brands are providing what consumers want in terms of apps that allow them to pay directly from their devices.

Google recently announced a mobile wallet app ‘Hands Free’ that allows you to make financial transactions. This app is highly secured as it use facial recognition feature to confirm the identity of individual. Many tech companies are planning to roll out their mobile wallet app on wearable devices. There is a misconception that mobile wallet is limited to only smartphones. One can expect to use it on wearables like Jawbone UP4, Lyle & Scott bPay jacket, Gear G3 etc.

Wal-Mart has recently rolled out their own products that allow mobile payments based on geolocation technology. There is a great demand for ‘blockchain’ and ‘cryptocurrency’ within mobile payment industry. Tokenization and Bitcoin is expected to dominate the financial industry in coming years.

What are the types of mobile payments?

There are different types of mobile payment options. In earlier days, customers used to take help of mobile technologies that allow them to store payment information on their device along with a PIN to complete the transaction. Mobile wallet made the task much easier by allowing users to store all the payment information including credit cards, debit cards, vouchers and coupons.

With the mobile wallet apps, the payment occurs on the customer’s device to purchase goods for a particular retailer. The data is not stored on the merchant’s device as mobile POS takes place. The size of mobile wallet market is growing at a fast pace. There are hundreds of mobile wallet companies operating in the world.

Most of the individuals have shifted from traditional payment system to mobile wallets for making payments. There are different types of mobile payments that differ a lot when it comes to KYC norms and payment methods. Here is the list of different types of mobile payments.

Open Payment

Open system mobile payment can be used for buying products, transferring funds using card, cash withdrawal at ATMs etc. Open wallet services are extended in collaboration with authorized banks. For example – State Bank Buddy, M-Pesa etcare open wallets that allow users to make financial transaction directly through their mobile devices.

Closed Payment

Closed wallets are issued by e-commerce companies and businesses, where the merchant locks some amount in case of returning or cancelling the order. Closed wallets can be used to buy goods and services from that particular merchant. However, this type of mobile payment option does not allow cash withdrawal or redemption. For example –ecommerce portals like FlipKart, Amazon, MakeMyTrip etc offer closed wallets.

Semi-closed Payment

Semi-closed payments are provided by companies that are tied up with different merchants. This type of mobile wallet allows users to perform financial transactions at a few locations only. Moreover, it does not permit cash withdrawal or redemption. For example – PayTm, Mobikwik, Citrus, Oxigen etcare semi-closed wallets that allow users to purchase products and services, but not redeem.

Semi-Open Payment

Semi-open payment system allows users to transact with merchants at POS that have been tied up with the service provider. For example – Airtel Money is semi-open payment system that allows users to transact with the merchant, but not redeem the money.

There are different types of mobile payment apps such as Apple Pay, Android Pay, Samsung Pay, etc that allow users to pay with just a quick press of their fingerprint. As all the information is stored in the device, users need not have to verify expiration date or do anything else.

Mobile wallets are based on tap-and-go procedure and you can use them using you’re the NFC technology that is built in your phone. Mobile wallets make it much convenient and easier to make payment.

Google offers mobile payment through Google Wallet. All you need to do is add money to your Google wallet instantly and use it for different purposes.

Conclusion

There is a huge demand for mobile wallets as people prefer making payments through their mobile devices. Many countries across the globe are promoting cashless transactions, as a result of the demand of mobile wallets will increase drastically in coming years.

Building a mobile wallet app will surely help your business, if you can take care of the standards and protocols. Hire a potent mobile app development partner who provides end-to-end services.