Navigating the World of Digital Wallets: A Teen's Guide to Mobile Payments

Imagine a scenario…

You stand in a queue at your preferred food joint. You place an order only to realize that you left your wallet at home. Should you not fret and panic? Well, not anymore. Your phone is your new wallet. You scan the QR code and your payment is done. You leave with your favorite pizza and a smile playing on your lips. 

This is our future. Our world of digital wallets. Our phone is not a device but a road to financial power.

Are you still wondering how this works? This is the right time to explore the workings of mobile payments. Let us begin right away. 

 The Digital Wallet

A convenient app on your phone that allows you to store your debit and credit cards. With a simple scan you can easily

• Pay your bills, book airline tickets, pay for hotel reservations

• Buy clothes, bags, perfumes online or walk into a store for purchases

• Send money to anyone or receive money from others. 

The most popular payment modes and apps are:

• Google pay, Apple wallet [accepted globally]

• Paytm, Phonepe or Bhim UPI [prevalent in India] 

So, your bank works in your phone- accessible with a smart tap. Forget the trudge to the bank, the queues and the endless forms you fill. 

 Why do we need this? 

Well, since you are beginning to deal with money, you can learn to be

• Careful and cautious about spending money

• Keeps a watch on your spending

• Creates responsible and mature values about finance.

To begin with, you don’t have to be loaded with money. With a meagre 500 rupees you can learn to manage your wallet and become financially independent. Your accounts can be connected to your parent’s account that ensures additional caution, easy notifications.

The Big Worry- Safety.

Yes, it is quite safe. No, you will not be scammed. But you have to be alert and handle everything smartly. How to do it?

• Ensure phone is locked with Face ID or fingerprint or a strong password

• Do not use insecure and public networks. Use your own data [mobile or wi-fi]

• Do not share passwords or pin with anyone. 

• Keep a close watch on your weekly transactions.  

Big Gains

The major takeaways 

• Learning to live within a given budget. Realizing that the movie tickets and Spotify subscriptions can easily eat into your pockets- so careful planning is the word.

• Keeping a close watch on your splurges which in turn curbs the instinct to spend indiscriminately. {Do I really need that second ice-cream?}

So the immediate steps

• Use a trusted and popular app and with parental guidance and supervision download it

• Make minor purchases with it

• Create reasonable monthly caps on your spending.

• Beware of fraudulent calls, attempts to cheat you

• Keep your phone locked 

Move into the new world. Have you used any digital wallet? What was your experience? share them here. 

Let’s empower each other!