The Secrets to Mobile Wallets' Success

September 4, 2016 2:11 PM

History is filled with the stories of failed mobile wallets. The few that survive today have found a way to set themselves apart.

A sign for the launch of the Apple pay system, from Apple.Inc is seen displayed at the entrance to a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in London, U.K., on Tuesday, July 14, 2015. Apple Inc. is making the U.K. the first market outside the U.S. for its digital-wallet system as the company fights for a place in the electronic-payments industry. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

Apple Pay

Apple Pay is the only contactless payment option on iPhones and iPads, but it stands out as more than being the only game in town. It was the first third-party wallet to gain widespread support from major banks and credit unions.

An attendee displays Google Inc. Android Pay icon on a mobile device for a photograph during the Google I/O Annual Developers Conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Thursday, May 28, 2015. Google unveiled payment services, security upgrades and access to HBO movies and shows for its popular Android software, seeking to push back against growing competition from rivals such as Apple Inc. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Android Pay

Android Pay isn't Google's first attempt at a mobile wallet, and that works to its advantage. The app removes the clutter of the earlier Google Wallet, giving Android owners a straightforward payment experience.

A worker demonstrates fingerprint payment security on the Samsung Electronics Co. stand at the Mobile World Congress in this arranged photograph Barcelona, Spain, on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2016. Mobile World Congress, an annual phone-industry event organized by GSMA Ltd., runs from Feb. 22 to Feb. 25. Photographer: Pau Barrena/Bloomberg

Pau Barrena/Bloomberg

Samsung Pay

Unlike Apple Pay and Android Pay, Samsung Pay doesn't require merchants to actively support it. Samsung handsets can create a wireless signal that tricks older payment terminals into thinking the shopper has swiped a plastic card.

Walmart Pay

Walmart Pay isn't a standalone wallet; it exists within the bigger Walmart app, which has a large following. In this way, Walmart caters to the most mobile-savvy shoppers without asking them to significantly change their behavior.

Customers use mobile devices inside a Starbucks Corp. coffee shop in New York, U.S., on Monday, Jan. 18, 2016. Starbucks Corp. is scheduled to release its first-quarter earnings report following the close of U.S. financial markets on January 21. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg

Starbucks

The Starbucks app has been around since 2009, but its roots go back even longer. It builds on the massive success of the Starbucks gift card, which is one of the most popular holiday gifts in the U.S.

Chase Pay

Chase Pay is the result of years of work between JPMorgan Chase, Visa and the merchant community. It's built on the company's closed-loop ChaseNet system, which streamlines the payment process when Chase has both the consumer and the merchant relationship.

PayPal Inc.'s mobile payment application is launched on an Apple Inc. iPhone in this arranged photograph during a promotional event at Nestle SA's Cafe Nescafe coffee shop in the Harajuku district of Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Nov. 18, 2013. Japan, where majority of retail purchases are made in cash, is attracting US mobile-payment companies such as Paypal and Square. Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg

PayPal One Touch

PayPal Venmo app, which is used for P-to-P payments, has a strong following among Millennials. PayPal used this technology as the foundation of a separate mobile commerce system called One Touch.

Mobile payments

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