Mobile Wallets
Tap. Pay. Be on your way!
Your Eaton Family Credit Union VISA Credit Card and MasterCard Debit Card can be used with any of the three leading mobile wallet options: Apple Pay, Google Pay, and Samsung Pay.
What is a Mobile Wallet?
A Mobile Wallet is a way to carry your credit and debit card information in a digital form on your mobile device. Instead of using your physical plastic card to make purchases, you can pay with your smartphone, tablet, or smartwatch. Mobile Wallets are a convenient way to:
- Make in-store purchases. Just hold your device to pay.
- Make quick purchases in mobile apps. No need to enter your card info.
- Receive offers. Many wallets and cards offer rewards and discounts.
How do Mobile Wallets work?
Download the appropriate Mobile Wallet app. Or, it may be already built into your mobile device and you simply have to activate it. See below for devices that support each Mobile Wallet.
Add your Eaton Family Credit Union VISA Credit Card and/or MasterCard Debit Card to the appropriate Mobile Wallet.
When you check out at participating merchants, access the Mobile Wallet, and choose your card. If you’re making an in-store purchase, just hold your mobile device at the terminal.
What device supports Mobile Wallet functionality?
Google Pay is available on all NFC-enabled, non-rooted Android devices (KitKat 4.4+).
Samsung Pay works with higher-end Samsung phones: the Galaxy S7, S7 Edge, S6 Edge+, S6, S6 Edge, S6 Active, and Galaxy Note 5. It is also available on the Gear S2 smartwatch, but only for transactions on NFC terminals. The phone also needs to be on one of the following carriers in the United States: AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile, US Cellular, or Verizon.
Apple Pay is a mobile payment and digital wallet service by Apple Inc. that lets users make payments using the iPhone 6, 6 Plus, iPhone SE, and later, Apple Watch-compatible devices (iPhone 5 and later models), iPad Air 2, iPad Pro, and iPad Mini 3 and later and Mac.
Are Mobile Wallets secure?
Many smartphone users resist using a wallet app because of security concerns. However, the best Mobile Wallet apps have superior payment security; they utilize tokenization and encryption technology that make point of sales transactions made using mobile wallets more secure than those made by swiping physical cards through magnetic stripe card readers.
The biggest security threat isn’t inherent to the transaction process but rather to the physical loss or theft of your phone. Because of this, if you choose to add an electronic wallet to your phone, it’s critical that you protect your device by locking the home screen using a PIN, password, or thumbprint. It’s also important to know how to locate your phone and deactivate it or erase the data remotely using services such as Android Device Manager or Find My iPhone.
How Widely Accepted Are Digital Wallets?
Mobile Wallet acceptance is a bit of a catch 22; merchants hesitate to upgrade to contactless point of sale (POS) equipment if their customers aren’t yet using it, and many customers aren’t yet using it because merchants aren’t yet accepting it. However, market research indicates that Mobile Wallet use and acceptance will continue to grow.
This problem has been somewhat alleviated with the October 1, 2015 EMV regulations that shifted fraud liability to merchants with outdated equipment. As a result, many merchants have updated to EMV-capable equipment, which often includes NFC technology and enables them to accept major Mobile Wallets like Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Samsung Pay may be the most universally accepted Mobile Wallet because in addition to using NFC, it also uses magnetic secure transmission (MST) technology that works with most existing magnetic stripe terminals.
Still have questions about using a Mobile Wallet?
Click the images below to visit their websites to learn more about the respective service.
