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Ask HN: Why digital wallets failed to disrupt how we pay despite Covid-19?

1 points by slategruen 5y ago

detaro 5y ago
Why do you think they would be a disruptive progress over the current state? I.e. I'm not sure what a "digital wallet" would have improved for me in the past year-and-a-half, but I might very well be missing something.
- slategruen 5y ago
  Mainstream media, at least in tech, have betted that digital payments will be disruptive because of the pandemic given how unsanitary cash payments are. I mean, it makes sense for people to use digital wallets instead of cash but as restrictions are now easing, we see that cash is still king in physical transactions (at least in regions where credit card usage is not common).
  - detaro 5y ago
    I am in a generally cash-heavy location (Germany), but contactless cards (the usual German debit card also supports contactless by now) pretty much have covered the pandemic. The usual holdouts are small food places, but I've used those a lot less. And I guess during the pandemic people used delivery or pick-up-scheduling apps a lot for those, with payments online.
    - toomuchtodo 5y ago
      Is it difficult or expensive in Germany as a merchant to obtain a contactless card reader for accepting payments?
      - detaro 5y ago
        Supermarkets and other larger stores by now have them pretty universally, as do fast-food chains etc. (which is why I haven't really needed cash anytime recently). I'm honestly not sure what the causes for the rest are, it could be that the debit card terminals are harder/more expensive to get for a small restaurant/bar and credit cards alone just isn't worth it? There is not yet an underlying cultural assumption that you'll accept cards as such a place, it mostly just catches tourists off guard, so they don't loose that much by not having it. What I can't remember ever seeing here are these readers that attach to phones, but I don't know how common those are elsewhere in small shops.
  - raxxorrax 5y ago
    Cash wasn't really a factor for transmission for Covid, so people are already back to paying with cash in my country (pretty popular here). I prefer cash to most digital transactions outside that from my own bank because there is often some form of undesirable middle-man. I don't like apple, google or facebook be involved here in any way.
verdverm 5y ago
Likely because a credit card has a much better UX. This isn't purely technical, because it is credit vs debit. There are also payment apps from both Apple and Google, why do I need anything else? It's also worth considering people went out less and didn't use payment terminals as much as they shipped online.
- slategruen 5y ago
  I do not live in the US so credit card is not very common here but digital payments still failed to gain traction. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also not frequently used here even when paying for online transactions.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  > There are also payment apps from both Apple and Google, why do I need anything else? Why would I need these in the first place? I don't want to share even more info with these companies. These companies suck and will bow to any regime as we have seen countless times. Why would I trust them with money?
  - verdverm 5y ago
    Would your bank really act any differently if the government came knocking? I use Google Pay to email money instantly without fees.
    - raxxorrax 5y ago
      Probably not, but I have a better relationship with my bank than with Google, although banks sadly adopt the practive to share information with third parties. Far less than Google though. Paying is as easy, I even prefer to use the card instead of my phone for contactless payment. Always works, doesn't have a battery, just as fast. It also allows me to get cash if needed.
neximo64 5y ago
Simple answer: they're annoying. Much prefer the debit card and apple pay.
tomjen3 5y ago
Because we just paid with credit cards. There is no disruption when you already have a replacement technology.

1 points by slategruen 5y ago

Why do you think they would be a disruptive progress over the current state? I.e. I'm not sure what a "digital wallet" would have improved for me in the past year-and-a-half, but I might very well be missing something.

slategruen 5y ago
Mainstream media, at least in tech, have betted that digital payments will be disruptive because of the pandemic given how unsanitary cash payments are. I mean, it makes sense for people to use digital wallets instead of cash but as restrictions are now easing, we see that cash is still king in physical transactions (at least in regions where credit card usage is not common).
- detaro 5y ago
  I am in a generally cash-heavy location (Germany), but contactless cards (the usual German debit card also supports contactless by now) pretty much have covered the pandemic. The usual holdouts are small food places, but I've used those a lot less. And I guess during the pandemic people used delivery or pick-up-scheduling apps a lot for those, with payments online.
  - toomuchtodo 5y ago
    Is it difficult or expensive in Germany as a merchant to obtain a contactless card reader for accepting payments?
    - detaro 5y ago
      Supermarkets and other larger stores by now have them pretty universally, as do fast-food chains etc. (which is why I haven't really needed cash anytime recently). I'm honestly not sure what the causes for the rest are, it could be that the debit card terminals are harder/more expensive to get for a small restaurant/bar and credit cards alone just isn't worth it? There is not yet an underlying cultural assumption that you'll accept cards as such a place, it mostly just catches tourists off guard, so they don't loose that much by not having it. What I can't remember ever seeing here are these readers that attach to phones, but I don't know how common those are elsewhere in small shops.
- raxxorrax 5y ago
  Cash wasn't really a factor for transmission for Covid, so people are already back to paying with cash in my country (pretty popular here). I prefer cash to most digital transactions outside that from my own bank because there is often some form of undesirable middle-man. I don't like apple, google or facebook be involved here in any way.

verdverm 5y ago

Likely because a credit card has a much better UX. This isn't purely technical, because it is credit vs debit. There are also payment apps from both Apple and Google, why do I need anything else? It's also worth considering people went out less and didn't use payment terminals as much as they shipped online.

slategruen 5y ago
I do not live in the US so credit card is not very common here but digital payments still failed to gain traction. Apple Pay and Google Pay are also not frequently used here even when paying for online transactions.
raxxorrax 5y ago
> There are also payment apps from both Apple and Google, why do I need anything else? Why would I need these in the first place? I don't want to share even more info with these companies. These companies suck and will bow to any regime as we have seen countless times. Why would I trust them with money?
- verdverm 5y ago
  Would your bank really act any differently if the government came knocking? I use Google Pay to email money instantly without fees.
  - raxxorrax 5y ago
    Probably not, but I have a better relationship with my bank than with Google, although banks sadly adopt the practive to share information with third parties. Far less than Google though. Paying is as easy, I even prefer to use the card instead of my phone for contactless payment. Always works, doesn't have a battery, just as fast. It also allows me to get cash if needed.

neximo64 5y ago

Simple answer: they're annoying. Much prefer the debit card and apple pay.

tomjen3 5y ago

Because we just paid with credit cards. There is no disruption when you already have a replacement technology.