A digital wallet is a perfectly secure alternative to physical cash (e.g., credit and debit cards, paper notes and coins), and they can be used to pay for things as well as send and receive money anywhere in the world. The question being asked here is, are digital wallets essential when travelling? 

What are digital wallets?

Digital wallets, which are otherwise known as electronic wallets (aka e-Wallets) or web wallets, can be described as financial transactional programs or applications that can be accessed from any modern computing device, such as a smartphone, tablet, laptop, or tablet device. Digital wallets can be used to send and receive money anywhere in the world, plus they can also be used at the checkout to pay for things, either online or at land-based stores.

You have three main types of e-wallets, which are commonly referred to as closed wallets, semi-closed wallets, and open wallets. Semi-closed and closed wallets are wallets that are created by companies that can be specifically used to pay for things at that website. Amazon Pay is a great example of a closed wallet. You couldn’t yet use it to pay for things at other websites or to pay for your bus ticket, for example, only at the Amazon checkout. 

Open wallets, such as PayPal, are entirely different. They can now be used at hundreds of thousands of online and offline merchants around the world. People who don’t like to use their credit cards or debit cards to pay for things online see digital wallets as a perfect alternative. Some are more useful than others, and they are regarded as being far more secure than traditional payment methods. 

What can digital wallets pay for?

Digital wallets can be used to pay for goods and services at your favourite websites, such as your weekly groceries, clothes, and just about any other item you can buy online. They can also be used for playing at innovative online casino providers. When using digital wallets at licensed casino sites, they enable you to play numerous other popular games in the real money mode, such as slots, live dealer games, roulette, bingo, and more. Online casino customers are keen to use them for the benefits they offer:

• Improved security: while all the best online casino providers have rigorous security and data privacy measures, the ability to simply register your digital wallet’s details instead of your bank’s affords another layer of protection.

• Faster transactions: while traditional banking methods are improving the speeds of completing transactions, they still have to pass through a central authority to be validated. However, digital wallets are completed much faster, both for deposits and withdrawals.

A look at some of today’s most popular digital wallets

There are lots of perfectly secure, reliable and convenient digital wallets to choose from today, so if you’re thinking about using one, let’s take a quick look at some of today’s best digital wallets that you may want to consider using before any others. Don’t forget that depending on which country you are based in and which mobile device you are using will often determine exactly which digital wallets you will have access to/be able to use. Some of the most popular digital wallets include the following trusted methods:

• PayPal

• Amazon Pay

• Samsung Pay

• Google Wallet

• Microsoft Wallet

• Alipay

• Facebook Pay

• Venmo

Other honourable mentions

Some of the other popular digital wallets out there today that also deserve mentioning are methods such as Zelle, Paycloud, Dwolla, Mobi, Gcash, Boost Mobile, LifePay, Wise, Dashlane, and Mozido, to name just a few. They are all free to sign up to, and they are a great way to pay for things. With digital wallets, you no longer have to carry around credit or debit cards in your wallet, which could potentially get stolen or lost, and you also don’t need to carry around wads of cash or annoying loose coins to pay for things. 

Thanks to digital wallets, you can now wave your smartphone device at the checkout to pay for things in an instant. Paying for goods or services with a digital wallet is also a much quicker process than paying for things with physical cash. There are hardly ever any fees attached, but if there are fees attached to your digital wallet transactions, they will be nominal and hardly noticeable. 

Are digital wallets essential when travelling?

As you can see, digital wallets, especially open digital wallets, are absolutely essential when travelling. They are perfectly secure, and for travellers, digital wallets are super convenient. 

How can I get a digital wallet?

Getting a digital wallet is relatively straightforward. If you would like to open a PayPal account, for example, all you would need to do is head straight to the official PayPal sign-up page and then register your new account. It’s free to sign up to, and the online registration process takes less than a minute to complete. 

As soon as your new PayPal account has been activated, you will need to log in to your new account so that you can top it up. You can top it up by connecting your PayPal account either to your credit or debit card or bank account. 

Now that you have topped up your PayPal account, you can start using it to pay for things where you see the PayPal logo at the checkout. Don’t forget that you can also send money and receive money to and from anyone in the world who also has a PayPal account. PayPal is free and easy to use, and when using it for the very first time, remember to carefully follow the simple onscreen instructions to complete the transaction. It’s that easy.