In some countries around the world, digital wallets have given rise to an industry with billions of transactions. In developing countries, they’re a new way to conduct business for a population that doesn’t bank but is a power user of mobile phones. Even in countries like Japan, e-wallets are wildly popular.

But in the United States, mobile payments have been slow to take off — save for the widely used Starbucks app and some experiments like Google Wallet. Still, market research firm Parks Associates forecasted in January that 43 percent of smartphone owners will be using mobile wallets by 2017.

A digital wallet typically requires a prepaid account that you can monitor and refill, or it ties into existing credit card or bank accounts.

From the article, "Mobile payments: What's in your (digital) wallet?" by Rodika Tollefson.

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