How can i pay without my card

When using an app, such as one for buying food or a ride-share service, you could opt to use your digital wallet as the payment option. That way, you can save some time by not having to enter in your payment information each time you use the app.

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Nicole Dieker

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Nicole Dieker has been a full-time freelance writer since 2012—and a personal finance enthusiast since 2004, when she graduated from college and, looking for financial guidance, found a battered copy of Your Money or Your Life at the public library. In addition to writing for Bankrate, her work has appeared on CreditCards.com, Vox, Lifehacker, Popular Science, The Penny Hoarder, The Simple Dollar and NBC News. Dieker spent five years as writer and editor for The Billfold, a personal finance blog where people had honest conversations about money. Dieker also teaches writing, freelancing and publishing classes and works one-on-one with authors as a developmental editor and copyeditor.

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Mariah Ackary

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Mariah Ackary is a personal finance editor who joined the Bankrate team in 2019, excited to help people make good decisions with their money. Send your questions to [email protected]

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Liz Bingler

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Liz Bingler is an Associate Editor for CreditCards.com and Bankrate, where she focuses on product news and reviews. As an editor, her goal is to produce content that will help people to make informed financial decisions.

I stopped regularly carrying cash sometime in the early 2000s. A lot of us did, because debit cards made it really easy to pay for something without the need for a fistful of paper bills. But just as debit cards made cash a relic of years gone by, smartphones are now doing the same to plastic.

According to analytics firm eMarketer, mobile payments in stores are expected to top $114 million by 2018, with the average person spending almost $2,000 per year using their smartphones at the checkout. If you don’t want to be an old fogey still paying with a debit card in 2020—pay attention—because these are the payment services that are going to rule your digital life sooner rather than later.

Walmart Pay

One of the newest kids on the pay-by-phone block is Walmart. That’s right, a simple tap and snap is all it takes to buy basically anything and everything at the nation’s largest retailer these days. And you don’t have to be tech-savvy to use it.

To start, just download the Walmart app for iOS or Android and enter your Walmart account information. If you don’t have a Walmart account, you can create one in just a minute or two.

Once you’re signed in, add your debit or credit card to your account by clicking on “Account” on the bottom right of the app home screen, and then clicking on “Payment Methods.” For initial setup, you need your card number, expiration date, and security code, along with your personal information such as address and phone number. If you’re adding your card from your smartphone you can use the app’s built-in camera feature to capture all your card information without having to type it in.

Once you have a payment method on your Walmart account, activating Walmart Pay is super simple too. Just tap Walmart Pay on the home screen of the Walmart app (it’s toward the bottom). You’ll then be asked to create a 4-digit PIN, for security purposes. On the following screen you’ll be asked to accept the Terms & Conditions, and once that’s done, you’re all set.

To use Walmart Pay, all you have to do is open the Walmart app once you’re at the checkout, tap Walmart Pay, enter your pin, and then scan the QR code that appears on the digital screen by the register. The money will automatically be charged to your card, and you can leave your wallet at home.

Despite being recently overtaken by Amazon in sheer volume of customers, Walmart remains the biggest brick-and-mortar retail chain on the planet, so it makes a lot of sense that they’d want to make it as easy as possible for customers to cruise through the checkout. The service is currently being rolled out to U.S. stores gradually with all 4,500 plus Walmart U.S. stores having Walmart Pay by the end of this summer.

Paypal

You might know the name PayPal from its close ties to eBay, but what you might not know is that PayPal already has a mobile payment service up and running, with a really solid reputation to boot. Just download the app, sign in using your PayPal account information or set up a new account, and tap “In Store” on the home screen.

If you don’t already have a bank account, debit, or credit card linked to your PayPal account, you’ll need to take a few moments to add your preferred payment method via the app or the PayPal website. It’s very simple, and takes just a minute or two.

The beauty of in-store payments with PayPal is that the app is accepted at lots of stores that you might not expect, and the app can actually tell you what nearby stores take the PayPal app for payments. Once you tap the “In Store” icon you’ll be given a list of merchants near you.

To pay at the checkout with PayPal, tap the applicable store from the list, choose your desired payment method, and the app will produce a unique code that the cashier can scan. You’ll get confirmation of the purchase right on your device, and you can head right out of the store without even thinking about opening your wallet. It’s really the simple.

Also of note, PayPal’s One Touch feature that lets you stay logged into PayPal across your devices so that you can buy things online instantly without entering your password, credit card number, billing or shipping information every single time you feel the urge to splurge. And speaking of splurging, if you need extra time to pay for that splurge gift, you can use Easy Payments with PayPal Credit to choose the monthly payment amount and length of time to pay.

So many ways to pay

By now, you may have heard of Android Pay, Apple Pay, and even Samsung Pay, but you probably don’t use them all that often — if at all. They all work in essentially the same way; as direct replacements for your debit or credit cards at various chains such as Starbucks or Whole Foods.

In order for a store to accept these types of mobile payments, they must be equipped with a contactless sale terminal. That might sound like a crazy piece of gear, but it’s actually just a small hub that sits right at the checkout, usually alongside a standard card-swiper and keypad. Not all stores have them, but the vast majority either already adopted them or are in the midst of rolling them out, nationwide.

Despite having different names, Android Pay, Apple Pay, and Samsung Pay all work in essentially the same way: Open the app, select the card you want to use, touch your phone to the terminal, and that’s it. It’s like swiping your card, but without the swiping… or the card.

Is It Safe?

These all-digital payment options are fast and convenient, but the main reason you should be jumping on board the new mobile wallet trend is actually for security. Your debit and credit card information can be used by anyone who manages to capture it. If you’ve ever had your card number skimmed and used against your will, you know how big of a hassle it can be to make things right again.

All five of the payment methods above take your raw card data out of the equation, and no cashier or merchant will ever see your precious digits first-hand. That means less worrying about potential identify theft and more peace of mind when you slide through the checkout lane.

Whatever your primary reason for switching from plastic to digital, the benefits outweigh the mild learning curve that is required to become a smartphone-paying shopper of the future.

Jennifer Jolly is an Emmy Award-winning consumer tech contributor and host of USA TODAY's digital video show TECH NOW. E-mail her at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @JenniferJolly.

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