The Digital Wallet - The Smartphone as a Modern Wallet - Money and ID

The Smartphone as a Payment Method

Even before the pandemic, contactless payments became increasingly popular, and more and more banks offered digital debit cards via Apple Pay and Google Pay. The pandemic rapidly accelerated the adoption of these options. New variations and updates constantly emerged, simplifying the use of these systems. A major advantage of this technology is its accessibility; nowadays, smartphones are always with us, and the often heavy, bulky wallet stays at home. However, if you spontaneously want to buy something, even just a coffee, you can now do so using your smartphone.

Besides the payment function, smartphones offer many other features that can make life easier. It's no coincidence that the word "wallet" has been used so frequently in recent years.

In the following paragraphs, I would like to give you a brief overview of these possibilities.

Smartphone – The Digital Wallet?

The green passport was the first major step for the majority of the population toward digital identification. In addition to digital ID, there are also bonus cards and membership cards that can be accessed via mobile phone, eliminating the need to carry them in a wallet. The best example of this would be the Jö app instead of the Jö card.

The State Secretary for Digitalization wants to leverage this to introduce a digital ID platform. Users would register with ID Austria (E-ID) and download the necessary ID documents to their smartphones via an app. "All the IDs you usually carry in your wallet – national ID card, driver's license, vehicle registration certificate, student ID – would then be accessible on your mobile phone," said Tursky. The rollout will begin with the digital driver's license, which should be available this year. Personal documents such as birth certificates, proof of citizenship, and high school diplomas will follow later. By 2024, even the often cumbersome bureaucratic processes – such as passport applications or residency registrations – should be possible digitally.