eWallets are becoming a major asset to both business owners and consumers. The reason for this trend is that eWallets allow consumers and business owners to connect these eWallets to their bank accounts and facilitate efficient transactions. What is remarkable about eWallets is that they are available during non-traditional banking hours and even have become available in other countries. For the consumer or business owner that wants to shop, transfer money or pay their bills by using eWallets, they absolutely can. By doing so, they will also save time and money in the process. Here are the fundamental concepts to understand about eWallets:

What is an eWallet Exactly?

eWallets fill in the void that the online consumer had previously regarding always having to enter their information into every transaction they were conducting on the Internet. Where eWallets are particularly helpful is that they provide an additional security in the consumer has a verification stage where they enter their credit card number and contact details before making a purchase. eWallets are essentially the middle man in a transaction that create instant purchasing transactions for consumers to enjoy around the globe. eWallets have also become ideal ways to send money to friends and family electronically, which has eliminated the need many times to take out cash from an ATM.

The Biggest Perks of Having an eWallet

eWallets have opened up a whole other way of spending and transferring money that did not exist in prior years. Some of the major players in the industry are companies such as iDebit, Instadebit, and iDeal that have been particularly amongst Canadian consumers. Additional eWallet companies that have become quite popular on the global scale are PayPal and TransferWise. What all of these companies have in common is an added efficiency to transferring money that did not exist ten years ago between individuals both domestically and abroad.

Where eWallets truly benefit consumers is their direct connectivity to the consumer’s bank account without giving their financial information to the plethora of merchants that they will be spending money with. For this reason, it is very both convenient and safe for consumers to use. Another benefit to consumers that use eWallets is that they can purchase a great deal more on the Internet than ever before because many Internet websites are opening up their doors to potential spending with eWallets. This is allowing merchants to enter into a new sector of global international commerce that did not exist previously.

Disadvantages Associated with eWallets

Granted eWallets are truly a revolutionary change to how we buy and receive money for transactions. That being said, eWallets still have a long way to go before they are perfect. Some examples that are quite frustrating for consumers to deal with is that it is quite difficult to contact these companies in the event of a customer service issue. Companies such as PayPal are notorious for having nearly impossible customer service phone call wait times. Another issue with PayPal is that they are almost too secure in that if an individual is buying and selling in many different countries, they close down their account frequently, which creates a very annoying situation in that the customer has to contact them regularly almost before any major transaction. Until more advanced features are available for eWallets to track transactions, this will be a major downfall for companies such as PayPal.

Another issue with companies such as PayPal and TransferWise is the high fee that they charge between exchange foreign currencies. Particularly relating to PayPal, PayPal has possessed a great deal of success with their PayPal Global feature that allows expats to get their earnings out of China, for example; however, there is a very low daily transfer limit coupled with a very high fee. For this reason, the expat would have to transfer several times and pay triple or quadruple the rate should they need to transfer money in excess of $500 out of the country or pay merchants abroad.

Concluding Remarks on the Subject

In sum, eWallets are no doubt a revolutionary addition to the current financial landscapes. There is an absolute certainty that these eWallets will be around in the future; however, they still have little ways to go in connecting individuals and markets essentially. As we as a global society approach the inclination to connect markets and currencies more than ever before, eWallets will absolutely be the pioneers in this sense of finding ways to safely and efficiently spend regardless of where one resides in the globe. Where eWallets need to improve is in how consumers can resolve disputes and/or customer service issues while working with these companies. As it stands now, consumers lose their funds for several business days, which does not promote efficiency for global commerce. Once eWallets sort out this glitch, they will become even more effective and trustworthy ways to buy and sell goods all over the globe.