With the undeniable advance of new technologies, the adoption of electronic payment methods such as digital wallets. Without a doubt, this tool has burst into people’s daily lives because it allows manage finances in a simpler way. However, as is often the case in these cases, the issue is not without controversy.
Along with the increase in these wallets, scams also grew. Added to this, Marcos Galperín, owner of Mercado Pagoone of the most popular wallets, recalled that the beneficiaries of various social allowances that are managed before Anses can collect different benefits of the organization through the digital platform. The criticisms did not take long to appear. Some assure that he will make money with this new management and others recalled that These assignments had no intermediarieswere deposited directly into the beneficiary’s account.
How virtual wallets work
Let’s start at the beginning. A digital wallet is onemobile application that basically allows you to send and receive money from any electronic device. To use it, you need to download the wallet application in question and register to start operating.
In January of this year, andn Argentina, 91% of people used some means of payment that is not cash to make your purchases, as revealed by a survey by the consulting firm Kantar, cited by El Cronista. The debit cards led the preferences with 73%, followed by digital wallets with 58%, and credit cards with 53%. The use of virtual wallets had quintupled in just three years, the economics newspaper revealed.
Undoubtedly a key aspect when choosing a virtual wallet is that is simple and accessible in use. In that sense, last year the Central Bank registered more than 60 digital wallets. Mercado Pago, Ualá, DNI Account, Personal Pay, BNA+ and Modo are some of the most popular, with millions of users in the country.
These tools also offer protection against weight loss and many of them are also presented as an option to obtain a profit that is not lost in the midst of the current economic situation. In this way, they become one of the most chosen options by those looking for an alternative that can give them financial stability, highlighted a statement from the Vibrant wallet.
The risks of virtual wallets
When using virtual wallets, it is essential to acquire Good practices to keep money and data safe. In this era the biggest threat is losing your smartphone or having it stolen. That’s a big headache.
If the phone and virtual wallet are not locked with passwords and biometrics, any hacker could easily access the app and empty the account. For this reason, the first security measure is enable device locks and biometric authentication.
Refering to password, you should make sure it is difficult to guess and containing a combination of letters, numbers and symbols. The more complex it is, the more difficult it will be for a hacker to break into the device. It is also important to have on your cell phone security applications that can help locate the phone in case of theft or loss. These apps can also lock the phone remotely.
Experts also recommend being very careful where you use your wallet. Never use it with a public Wi-Fi network because it is not known who is on the other side, they indicate.
Finally they call frequently monitor the status of accounts. Specialists suggest frequently logging into accounts to review the list of transactions, payments and withdrawals for suspicious activity. In that sense, if there are purchases that were not made, it is possible that a criminal has accessed that data.
Virtual wallets: the controversy with Mercado Pago
Installed the controversy that included Mercado Pago and Ansesdifferent social media users reported that This measure puts the app as a private intermediary for the payment of assignments when it was previously the responsibility of a public entity such as Banco Nación, Forbes Argentina detailed. In that sense, the controversy grew even more when Galperín himself responded to the criticism.
“It is such a pleasure to cut the jobs of all the cooperative managers of poverty and pickets“We do it for free,” said the businessman in response to the proposal of a user who defined the Government’s decision as a “million-dollar business.” The Social Security specialist Facundo Fernández Pastor maintained that fintech will obtain benefits from the management of social security money but It does not make contributions to the pension system.
It is clear that the use of these wallets increased due to the convenience they entail. But do we really know the cost of using these tools?