Mobile Wallets can Make Paying by Credit or Debit Card Seamless

Tap your phone at checkout and you're on your way. But mobile wallets are just the beginning. Payment networks and manufacturers are building payment functions into more devices — expanding your options as well as freeing up your hands.

You could find yourself buying gas from the dashboard of your car, groceries from your refrigerator door or dinner by flashing a smile. And you won't even need your phone with you to make purchases on the go.

MORE DEVICES ADD PAYMENT CAPABILITY

Payment options already available or on the horizon include:

• Wearables. Connected "smart" accessories such as watches, bands, and rings travel lighter than a phone. To use, the wearer holds a wrist or hand up to a contactless payment terminal. Visa tested these devices at the 2016 Rio Olympics to demonstrate possibilities, says Mark Jamison, global head of innovation and design at Visa.

The market will determine, he says if fashion designers want to "embed payments into a ring or any other device." One company privately testing similar tech is Token, whose smart ring — which performs a variety of functions, from opening doors to paying for purchases — has a waiting list.

In 2017, payment capabilities branched out from Apple and Android smartwatches to some Fitbit and Garmin fitness devices, meaning more people could leave their phone behind while working out.

By the end of this year, Visa expects merchants to have the tap-to-pay capability at 50 percent of U.S. locations where face-to-face transactions take place.

• Virtual assistants. When voice payments are enabled on virtual assistants like Amazon Echo and Google Home, you can multitask and take care of "errands" at the moment with verbal commands.

CONNECTED DEVICES WILL BE THE NORM

Consider the number of mobile applications with saved payment information on your mobile device. In the future, you could free up some data and save a little battery life by using other connected devices:

• Cars. Visa and Mastercard are working with manufacturers to embed options in car models. Manufacturers are also testing ways to pay for gas, groceries, takeout, metered parking and other things from screens on vehicle dashboards.

"It's still early, but we are focused on bringing that to life this year, to have the ability for you, as the driver, to not just order from one type of merchant," says Stephane Wyper, senior vice president of new commerce partnerships and commercialization at Mastercard.