There have been a number of instances where customers have found themselves willing, but unable to pay for something while they’re out and about because the merchant doesn’t accept digital wallet payments.
Some folks only exclusively use the payment platform—like one Disneyland guest whose payment process was recorded in a now-viral TikTok that’s accrued over 86,000 likes on the popular social media platform.
@luluxx_x Oh no #fyp #fypシ #applepay #viral ♬ Funny Laugh no no no – Sound Effect
The clip, which is set to the popular “no no no” laughing sound on TikTok, shows a Disneyland customer attempting to put their phone in the receipt folio at a restaurant. The poster, Lupita (@luluxx_x) wrote in the text overlay, “When you only carry Apple Pay.”
According to the Business of Apps, mobile payments are becoming increasingly popular. More than 2 billion people globally are enrolled in mobile payments according to the outlet, with millions more subscribers opting to process their financial transactions through their smartphones each year.
While the idea of mobile payments may seem unsafe, there are security protocols assigned to mobile payments that make them safer than traditional swipes or chip insertions with cards, and it has everything to do with encryption and the way that “digital wallets” operate.
Callaway Bank explains that with each transaction, the wallet application generates a uniquely encrypted token per swipe. This token is used one time only to process a transaction on your credit card, however, it doesn’t store your card information. This means that even if a scammer were to use some type of remote signal scanner in order to get that token number from a mobile payment, they still wouldn’t be able to charge anything to your card, and the stolen token that they acquired would be effectively useless.
In the case of Lupita’s dining partner who placed their phone to render payment at the Disneyland restaurant, they would more than likely have to ask for a POS system to be brought to them to process the transaction with their digital wallet. Either that or use a physical card or cash, which they don’t have.
A number of commenters replied to the video stating that they’ve ditched going out with their wallets and now process all of their shopping transactions using nothing but their smartphone.
“One year strong without my physical card,” one commenter wrote.
Someone else remarked, “LMFAOOO I be scared when they don’t have Apple Pay”
“Definitely me just phone no wallet,” another said.
One person in the comments section revealed what happened to them when they went to a restaurant that didn’t bring a POS system to their table to process a transaction with a digital wallet. “Yep, went with someone who only had apple pay and had to walk over to the register for them to scan his phone,” they said.
However, other commenters couldn’t believe that there are people who leave home without a wallet and rely entirely on their phones to process their transactions. “yall fr be doing this? I’ve never used Google pay for anything in person only online lol,” one user wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to Disneyland via email and Lupita via TikTok comment for further information.
