In many emerging markets eMoney wallets have leapfrogged the traditional debit and credit card market. An eWallet is a feature rich app that does more than complete a payment transaction in the store. In South East Asia and emerging markets the relevance of cards have diminished significantly. The overall card penetrations in these markets was low compared to Western markets and eMoney wallets have circumvented any potential for cards and they struggle to be relevant. However they can provide a bridge between the old ‘wired’ world at point of sale and the eMoney app world. The card can be a companion to an eWallet on your phone and can be used in a store in which you can’t ‘snap’ a QR code and pay, or ‘tap’n’pay’ contactlessly. You can use a card to be accepted on non-smart, non-Android POS.
The other use case is for “cash out” at either an ATM or at a cash agent which uses old technology. Visualise standing in front of an ATM with a smartphone and your eMoney wallet and needing to do a cash withdrawal. You can’t snap a QR code, nor can a QR code on your phone be snapped and scanned … Use a card which is linked to your eMoney wallet.
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