From the barter system to online payment, the way we pay for goods and services has come a long way. Not only the payment systems, but even the online payment itself has evolved over the years.

Today each country has its digital wallet which works locally. Additionally, digital wallets like PayPal and Payoneer accept international deposits and withdrawals.

Though digital wallet pass is becoming increasingly popular each year, there are people who think a physical wallet is still a reliable option.

If we look back at the evolution of trade history, physical wallets have been extensively used because of their compact size and ease to carry. But compared to today’s digital wallet, it’s a little outdated.

A digital wallet has many advantages over a physical wallet. In this blog, we’ll look at the advantages, disadvantages, similarities, and differences.

Digital Wallet and Physical Wallet – Which Is Better?

Deciding how to pay for goods and services is solely dependent on personal preference. Both digital wallet pass and physical wallet pass have their advantages and disadvantages. The only thing that matters is how secure your wallet is.

Digital Wallet

Do you know? In the US alone 101.2 million customers used digital wallets in store to make payments last year. Today you can use a digital wallet for pretty much anything just as you would use your regular physical wallet.

The best part about a digital wallet is you don’t need to carry a bunch of cards and cash while you’re going shopping or traveling.

With the help of your smartphone, computer, or mobile device, you can pay for pretty much anything. You can pay for in-store purchases, online purchases, grocery purchases, flight tickets, etc.

A digital wallet gives you the convenience of storing credit and debit cards, loyalty cards, discount coupons, ticket payments, reward cards, and even hotel key cards in one secure place.

The reason why online payments are getting so popular is that they address one of the biggest concerns for most customers – Security.

With encryption tokenization and user authentication, a digital wallet pass is 100times more secure than a physical wallet.

Moreover, customers find it easier to reach into their pockets for a mobile handset when buying stuff in stores and tapping to pay at the terminal than pulling out wallets to grab cash or cards.

Physical Wallet

As digital wallets are gradually rising to the top peak, the importance of physical wallets is swiftly declining. After the world was hit by Covid-19, people relied more on online payment to ensure personal safety.

The viruses come and go but the trend did not stop, the thought of Covid viruses still existing somewhere around the corner makes many stores spectacle about accepting cash and cards from customers.

But, the physical wallet isn’t dead yet, and won’t be dead soon because it has been a part of our life for many years.

Like everything in the world has its positive and negative sides, physical wallets also have some advantages over digital wallet.

  • If you’re traveling around the world, you’ll surely come across retailers or people who won’t accept online payment. In this case, your wallet will be your best friend.
  • A digital wallet relies on a device with an internet connection. If your device runs out of battery or you lose an internet connection for whatever reason, you lose access to online payment. You will need your physical wallet in such situations.

Similarities

Online payment can achieve pretty much anything that a physical wallet can do.

  • Easy Payment – As much as paying cash is easy, online payment is easier in many situations. The time you spend taking out your wallet, picking up your desired card, and swapping on the machine is equivalent to taking out your phone, unlocking, and making the payment.
  • Security – Most people prefer cash over online payment because they believe paying with cash protects their personal information from security breaches, which is true! Nevertheless, online payment also operates under a more secure payment method – Tokenization. Your information is so heavily encoded that even if a store system gets hacked, your information won’t get compromised.
  • Applicability – Unless you’re traveling to another country you can use cash to purchase any goods and services in your country. Mobile wallet pass has also evolved a lot in recent years, now you can use online payment instead of cash almost in any store anywhere.

Differences

As we talked about how mobile wallets can be used in place of cash and how they are so similar. But there are some features that you don’t get with a physical wallet pass.

  • Delivery of Cash – When you use a physical wallet for paying bigger amounts, the process can get a little complicated as you have to figure out how to physically deliver the cash to businesses or other parties. With a mobile wallet pass, you can easily transfer through Automated Clearing House (ACH), or some other network.
  • Tracking – Unlike cash payment, online payment can be tracked anytime and anywhere. For cash payment, you get a receipt but if you happen to lose it, the only way to retrieve the record is to go to the store and request it, which again can take too much time. Digital payments automatically record every payment no matter where you use it.
  • Discounts – These days both online and offline stores often run discount schemes that can be availed only by using digital payments. Take for example Cash on Delivery (COD), most websites will charge you slightly more when you opt for COD. In some countries, even governments are taking initiative to increase the cashless economy by offering discounts and freebies on digital transactions.

Give Your Customers the Convenience of a Digital Wallet

In a fast-growing technological economy, smartphones are replacing physical wallets at a rapid rate.

For businesses, it’s high time to integrate a digital wallet pass for both business growth and customer convenience.

  • As per Juniper Research, the total population in the world using online payment is expected to reach 4.4 billion by 2025.
  • Mobile payment makes it easier and faster to make transactions as compared to traditional payments.
  • You can attract more customers by offering discounts and loyalty programs through digital wallet passes. Take Starbucks for example, they offer rewards programs, coupons, and other incentives through its app. You can integrate your business mobile app with a digital wallet to attract more customers.

Get Help from Shopuddy Today

A digital wallet pass has revolutionized the payment system and in the coming years, the way we pay for goods and services will be very different from today.

Billions of people are already adopting the trend. If you’re a business owner you should adopt too, if not, in the long run, you might be left out.

Shopuddy is a leading provider of low-cost and easy-to-access Digital Wallet Pass SaaS solutions. We help businesses improve customer loyalty, increase return rate, and grow your wallet share.

With Shopuddy stamp card/voucher you don’t have to install and maintain software, everything is run on the internet. Our app has a client web portal for customers, an admin portal for management, and a merchant app for operation.

To start with Shopuddy digital wallet pass, you can create a forever free account on Shopuddy here.