8 Wallet Apps That Go Beyond Payments

October 9, 2014 11:01 PM

Mobile wallets, at their most basic, enable consumers to manage their accounts and/or make purchases without cash or cards. On top of that foundation, many companies have come up with inventive features to set their apps apart. (Image: ShutterStock)

MasterCard Inc. credit and debit cards are arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2014. MasterCard Inc. is expected to release earnings data on Jan. 31. Photographer: Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg

MasterCard's Pay with Rewards

MasterCard's new app lets cardholders instantly redeem reward points at MasterCard merchants. The app, which is designed to help card issuers' marketing efforts, can show shoppers how much their points are worth in real currency before they use them to make a purchase. (Image: Bloomberg News)

Account balance

pressureUA/Getty Images/iStockphoto

CO-OP's CardNav

CardNav, which launches in October, allows credit union members to control when and how their cards can be used. They can set spending limits, restrict payments to specific merchant types, or even temporarily deactivate cards. (Image: ShutterStock)

The new Apple Inc. iPhone 6 is displayed after a product announcement at Flint Center in Cupertino, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2014. Apple Inc. unveiled redesigned iPhones with bigger screens, overhauling its top-selling product in an event that gives the clearest sign yet of the company's product direction under Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Apple Pay

Apple's mobile wallet has a security secret: it can convert any magnetic-stripe card into an EMV card when used for mobile payments. "Even if the consumer has a mag-stripe card in his pocket, he can still initiate an EMV transaction through the phone ... It's EMV secure transactions without the issuer having to deploy EMV cards in the market for those accounts," Visa's Matthew Dill says. (Image: Bloomberg News)

The Amazon.com Inc. Fire Phone is displayed for a photograph during an event in Seattle, Washington, U.S., on Wednesday, June 18, 2014 Amazon.com Inc. jumped into the crowded smartphone market with its own handset called Fire Phone, ramping up competition with Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. Photographer: Mike Kane/Bloomberg

Mike Kane/Bloomberg

Amazon's Firefly

Amazon's smartphone was designed with shopping in mind. Its Firefly technology can identify any product physical or virtual that it senses with the phone's camera or mic. It can then purchase that product from Amazon.com. (Image: Bloomberg News)

Gas and gasoline getting more expensive

Luca Francesco Giovanni Bertolli/Getty Images/iStockphoto

WEX Connect

WEX's fleet card app doesn't do payments, but it uses payment data for everything it does. The app provides real-time price updates for gas stations based on card users' fuel purchases. This data even helped recovery efforts after Hurricane Sandy since gas pumps need electricity, WEX's app could show which areas had power and which areas were still offline. (Image: ShutterStock)

Deluxe eCheck

Nearly all mobile payment apps rely on cards accounts or ACH to route payments. Deluxe brings the paper check into the mix, making it possible to send a paper check from a phone. It also sends remittance data, allowing businesses to manage accounts payable and receivable records. (Image: ShutterStock)

A pedestrian passes a Starbucks Corp., coffee shop in London, U.K., on Thursday, Dec, 1, 2011. Starbucks Corp., the world's largest coffee-shop operator, plans to add 200 more drive-through stores across the U.K. in an expansion that will create 5,000 jobs. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Starbucks

Starbucks is quick to say the success of its mobile app which is used for 15% of in-store sales in the U.S. has little to do with payments technology. Its app ties into its rewards program, and is being updated with features such as tipping and mobile ordering. (Image: Bloomberg News)

"Partners," a statue of Walt Disney and Mickey Mouse, sits in front of Cinderalla Castle at Magic Kingdom, part of the Walt Disney World theme park and resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida, U.S., on Monday, Aug. 31, 2009. Walt Disney Co. said it agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment Inc. for about $4 billion in a stock and cash transaction, gaining comic book characters including Iron Man, Spider-Man and Captain America. Photographer: Matt Stroshane/Bloomberg

Matt Stroshane/Bloomberg

Disney Experience

About half of Walt Disney World park patrons use its payment-capable MagicBands. Parkgoers also have access to the Disney Experience app, a tool that links MagicBands to the theme park's line-skipping FastPass system. (Image: Bloomberg News)