Technology is amazing. Every day it seems there’s an announcement about a new smartphone, app, operating system, or streaming service. The tech boom also looks to be phasing out a once-universal accessory — the wallet.Most of the items we carry in our billfolds — family photos, cash, business cards, receipts, notes, gift cards — can now all be accessed by the tap of a smartphone. You may have noticed the signs and stickers at retailers telling customers they can use their mobile devices with services such as Google Wallet and Apple Pay to purchase items.With Google Wallet, users download an app and set up an account on their mobile device. They link this account to a credit or debit card. Then, when they purchase something from a store that accepts that form of payment, they simply enter their passcode or fingerprint for authentication, tap their phone to the cashier’s mobile payment device, and the money is taken out of the user’s preferred account.How secure are these transactions? “They’re actually safer than using a physical credit card,” says Douglas DoNascimento, a digital marketing expert. “It has its own 24/7 monitoring for fraudulent or unauthorized activity. It can be remotely disabled and monitored.”“You can set up purchase notifications and view transaction records from anywhere,” he says. “You can associate the wallet card or app to any credit card and when you buy with it, the vendor does not see your credit card number.”For Apple Pay, users have to have an iPhone 6 or iPhone 6 Plus to use the service. These phones contain a Secure Element (SE) chip that stores financial information.Apple Pay’s security lies in the fact that it uses the device’s Touch ID (the fingerprint technology of Apple) to buy an item. Before something can be purchased, users must provide their fingerprint to complete the transaction.The SE mentioned earlier also provides added protection as the place where financial information is kept. Since it doesn’t make it to a phone’s hardware, it’s safe from hackers.Both Apple Pay and Google Wallet use Near Field Communication (NFC) technology to let users “tap” their phones and make payments at checkouts.What’s Next?Be on the lookout for the Coin and Plastc cards this year. These devices are roughly the size of a standard credit card but offer more. Users can store the information of multiple credit and bank cards onto one card, making the need for carrying a bunch of cards obsolete. There is a cost to purchase these cards, and both companies are still working out details, but they have the potential to be players in the quest for saving space.Coverage and discounts are subject to qualifications and policy terms and may vary by situation.Ⓒ2015 Texas Farm Bureau Insurance
