In many countries, paying for the things using mobile phone (cellphone) apps is becoming increasingly common. Does this development have more advantages or more disadvantages?
Technology has brought many pleasant and unpleasant changes in our lives. In a number of nations, making payments for things or services using cell phone applications is gaining grounds. This essay will discuss both pros and cons of this development and will also highlight how the advantages of it are more in number.
To initiate with, paying for services and goods was never easier than by using mobile applications such as Google App, Net banking, Paytm, Paypal and many more. People no longer have to carry cash or cards along with and mostly use their phones to pay for what they buy. This has reduced the risk of loss or theft of cards as well as liquid money. Moreover, paying via phone is faster and more convenient than swiping cards or counting and giving cash as payment. These apps are secure as they use certain secure codes or encryption to reduce the threat to one’s personal data as the system masks the real card number by allocating a random number for each purchase. Thus, even if a criminal gains access to store data or to one’s device, they only get useless information.
On the flipside, there are a number of people in the world who do not have smartphones or internet access. There are many folks who are illiterate and even many elderly in third world countries do not even know how to make use of phone applications to make payments. Moreover, there are many stores or businesses who do not accept phone payments. For instance, Apple Pay is the most widely accepted form of digital payment in North America, and even so, merely one-third of retailers there support it. In addition, transactions via mobiles leave a digital record, which makes some masses worried about privacy. While these lucidly aren’t disclosed publicly, there’s still a fear of hackers. Last but not the least, poor internet connectivity or the bank’s weak server response may hamper the process of such transactions.
To sum up, however phone payments sometimes cause frustration but they are undoubtedly a quick and convenient mode to pay for anything. People no longer have to dig through their wallets, swipe cards or sign cheques to pay for almost anything and making payments was never this easier.
