The E-wallets We Love – 2024 Guide
Electronic wallets are becoming increasingly popular all over the world. This comes as no surprise since, after all, the digital economy is all around us and getting wider each minute. More and more companies are turning their business digital which means that there’s a demand for more flexible payment options, too. In this article we will introduce you to the best e-wallets based on our own experience. You’ll get to know the most popular services in this area: we let you know how they work and what types of benefits they bring in. Let’s start!
What Is It About?
An e-wallet is an electronic card that you can use for transactions made online. These payments can be made through computers, smartphones and tablets. In order for the e-wallet to work, it has to be linked to your bank account. Otherwise, you are not able to make payments with it.
Some describe an e-wallet as a prepaid account. First, you need to open the account, confirm your personal information and your identity and once these are done, transfer money to your new e-account. The account will be protected with a password.
Electronic wallets have mostly just two different components. One of them is information and the other one is software. The information component is basically a great database. It contains all the details that you as a user have provided. This means for instance your full name, home address, and your debit card information. The software component, on the other hand, is there to provide you secure payments and also data encryption.
Where Are E-wallets Used At
E-wallets are extremely popular in Europe, where for instance different webstores and online casinos are accepting them as payment methods. On the other hand for instance in the Finnish markets e-wallets are not as popular as in Southern Europe, but this is mainly because Finns love netbanking. You can read more here.
In our experience, a consumer is more likely to start using an e-wallet in countries where banks are not very trustworthy or where banks are making it extremely difficult to open a bank account. This is very common at least in the southern parts of Europe, where some banks require so much bureaucracy that people are simply fed up with the system. In these cases, e-wallets come in handy.
Typical Features
Typically all e-wallets, or digital wallets, let you transfer money to your friends and family easily and without extra costs. In addition, most of them offer the chance for money exchange. The software and technology used in e-wallets are usually very sophisticated. The platforms are very easy to use. Usually an e-wallet has multiple device support, fingerprint scanner and data backup.
Nearly all digital wallet services are:
The Most Popular Digital Wallets
In the early stages of digital wallets, there were just a few big companies working within this field of finance. The most known of those were definitely Moneybookers, which goes nowadays by the name of Skrill.
Currently the most used electronic wallets are
- Skrill
- Neteller
- PayPal
- MuchBetter
- Revolut
Each of them has their own nice little benefits, but the core of the service is in all of them exactly the same. The idea is to provide you and other consumers fast, secure and modern payment methods that can be taken into use not only in the digital world but also in the real world. The latter one is possible thanks to the possibility of attaching a credit card to the electronic wallet account!
Skrill and Neteller
Skrill and Neteller are currently part of the same organization. However, consumers still like to see them as individual products, even though the services for both are basically the same. Both can be used in digital stores as well as land-based stores, restaurants etc.
When you have your Neteller or Skrill account open, you can apply for a MasterCard that is easily and automatically connected to your account. This makes it possible for you to use your Skrill or Neteller account with a password and a user name, or simply with the credit card
PayPal
PayPal is probably the biggest name in the digital wallet field there is! It’s services are widely used especially in Northern America, but also in Europe and all other parts of the world. PayPal can offer its users both personal and business accounts, and it is accepted as a payment method basically in all bigger webshops etc. When it comes to different feels, PayPal is however, a bit more pricey than for instance Skrill and Neteller that was just discussed.
MuchBetter
McuhBetter is not as widely used as the ones introduced earlier, but it is – at least to us – one of the best ones out there. It’s a very trendy and smart payment app that is suitable for both personal and business use. What’s surprising with MuchBetter is that it offers its users a great Reward system: by using this digital wallet you are getting many kinds of perks and benefits.
Revolut
Along with MuchBetter, Revolut has been around so far only a couple of years. It is extremely popular in the UK, but also in other parts of Europe as well. Just like all the other e-wallets mentioned in this article, this one, too, let’s you make money transfers to your friends and family, plus pay services and products online. The Revolut account is super quick to open and there’s also a credit card that can be attached to your digital wallet. Revolut is an excellent choice for its budget program. It makes taking care of your everyday finances.
Other Services
As you can see, almost each of the most popular e-wallets offer pretty much the same services. The main differences between different digital wallets are usually the possible fees that come with money transfers and the credit cards that you can attach to the accounts. Some of these services are using MasterCard and others prefer Visa.
How To Start
When it comes to choosing the best option for you, it’s important to compare all the possible services. Since opening the account is usually completely free, you can try out different options by simply making smaller deposits. Test the services and see which one of them works for you!
