What is a mobile payment & how does it work?

Mobile payments (which encompass mobile wallets and mobile money transfers) are regulated transactions that take place through your mobile device. That is, instead of paying for stuff with cash, cheques, or physical credit cards, mobile payment technology allows you to do so digitally.

How does paying with a phone work?

Paying with your phone works in the same way, it’s just that the credit card information is stored on a phone app instead of a piece of plastic. Most mobile wallet apps use Tap to Pay technology to allow you to make safe, secure digital payments.

What mobile payment apps are available?

Over the course of several weeks, we tested out five different mobile payment apps: Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Venmo (by PayPal) and Cash App (by Block, formerly Square). We tested Apple Pay and Samsung Pay on just their own devices and tested Google Pay, Venmo and Cash App on both Android and iOS.