In the first blog post in our series about mobile money, we look at some of the advantages mobile wallets offer millennials.
Here at Xpress Money, we’re excited about the prospects for mobile money. And considering millennials have practically grown up in a digital world, the chances are they’ll be among the earliest adopters of this new form of money. After all, millennials expect to be able to complete most types of transactions from a mobile device. You may have heard this trend described as the ‘Uberisation’ effect, after the ride hailing app Uber.
In a previous post, we discussed how a mobile wallet works, but what advantages does it offer the digital generation over the traditional kind they carry around in their pocket?
Convenience
Mobile wallets allow users to manage various aspects of their personal finances from a phone. They can check account balances, track spending, send money to friends and family, pay bills or make purchases. The budgeting feature tends to particularly appeal to millennials. Whereas cash expenditure is hard to monitor- once you spend it, cash disappears from your wallet- a mobile wallet allows users to keep track of every transaction, helping millennials develop financial discipline.
Speed
The speed of transactions is another major attraction for millennials. Instead of waiting for a shopkeeper to count out change or a credit card terminal to process a payment, a mobile wallet user can pay by simply scanning their mobile device. This is also an advantage when paying for services. Users can now pay for a taxi using a service like Uber in seconds through an app, rather than having to waste time finding the right cash once they reach their destination.
Security
A mobile wallet is more secure than a physical one. It’s easy to steal notes or coins from a physical wallet left unattended, whereas mobile wallets are protected by several layers of security. If someone steals a mobile phone, they have to guess a key code to access it. And as we discussed in this post, new measures such as multi- factor authentication, tokenisation and biometric identification are making mobile devices even safer.
Reward
Millennials can also take advantage of rewards such as cash- back or customer loyalty points when making purchases from a mobile wallet, which aren’t available to those paying by cash. These rewards work like a credit card programme but as we explained above, it’s much quicker and more convenient to pay from a mobile wallet!
Keep an eye out for our next blog in this series about how mobile money can boost growth in developing economies.
Written by – Arundhoti Banerjee, Associate Vice President – Strategy & Digital, Xpress Money
