Fewer than half of British adults now carry a physical wallet, according to recent research, with many carrying payment cards on their phones or smartwatches instead.
But while digital wallets such as Apple Pay or Google Pay are the default payment method among generation Z and millennials, many people over the age of 44 still rely on physical debit and credit cards.
Four readers told us about their wallets.
‘Unnecessary’
Alosh K Jose says the move to online and contactless payments after the Covid pandemic means it is unnecessary to carry a wallet. Photograph: Alosh K Jose/Guardian Community
“It used to weigh me down,” says Alosh K Jose, from Newcastle upon Tyne, adding that he now rarely uses a physical wallet. “It became an additional, needless thing to carry in my pockets.”
Jose says the move to online and contactless payments after the Covid pandemic means it is unnecessary to carry a wallet. “All my bank cards are on my phone,” said the 31-year-old, who runs a company delivering cricket sessions in the local community.
Despite getting stuck on a train in Spain during the huge power outage that hit parts of Europe in April, Jose does not feel the need too carry cash.
“My fiancee and I were travelling from Barcelona to Madrid and had to wait five hours on the train before we got off. We only had €10 [£8.70] in cash but some people gave us a bit of money so we could get on a bus,” he says.
“If the same were to happen in Newcastle, even without physical cash there’s no language barrier so I think it’d be fine. Maybe I’d think differently if I was travelling further or on holiday abroad.”
‘I don’t want to leave the window wide open for misuse of my sensitive information’
Roger, who still uses a physical wallet, says he feels vulnerable taking his phone out of his pocket. Photograph: Roger/Guardian Community
In Buckinghamshire, Roger, a retired IT worker, still carries a wallet and a separate coin purse. “Putting my cards on my smartphone would mean having all my eggs in one basket and becomes a single point of failure,” he says.
Apart from having some cards that have no electronic equivalent and are necessary for him to carry, the 69-year-old says he feels vulnerable taking his phone out of his pocket. “Flashing it to pay for something in a shop strikes me as a dangerous thing to do and I risk dropping it too.
“I worked in IT and security and I recognise that there are windows of opportunity for misuse when it comes to sensitive information. I just don’t want to leave that window wide open [using a digital wallet].”
A snippet from the letters page of the Times from the 1980s. Photograph: Roger/Guardian Community
Among the cash, payment and loyalty cards in his wallet, Roger carries a snippet from the letters page of the Times from the 1980s: “I’ve been a morris dancer since I was 20 and the letter says something about me, I suppose.”
‘I just like using a physical card – it’s about control’
Gen Z-er Georgina finds it shocking that so few people carry a wallet. Photograph: Georgina/Guardian Community
Georgina, 26, finds it shocking that so few people carry a wallet. “I carry a purse on me at all times as I prefer to own physical items over digital copies,” she says.
In her purse she carries debit cards; a driver’s licence; railcard, supermarket loyalty cards; £20 in emergency cash along with loose change; and a “battered business card for a taxi company”.
Georgina goes against the grain by not using a digital wallet. Photograph: Guardian Community
As a gen Z-er, Georgina, who lives in Leeds and helps to develop and deploy online tech training courses, goes against the grain by not using a digital wallet.
“Call me old-fashioned but I hate the idea of it,” she says. “All my friends use their phones to pay for things and I can see it’s convenient – I think they just think it’s a bit quirky that I don’t.
“I like physical things like using a card and miss things like paper concert tickets. It’s about control as I don’t want to be too reliant on my phone. I remember when you used to have to ask people if they take cards, but now you need to ask if they take cash. It’s wild.”
‘My wallet is a generous phone case’
Before she received her first smartphone during the pandemic, Sara Hayward used to carry a wallet ‘twice the size’ of her phone case. Photograph: Sara Hayward/Guardian Community
Sara Hayward, a 61-year-old artist from Worcester, says her wallet “has morphed into a generous phone case”.
Before she received her first smartphone during the pandemic, Hayward used to carry a wallet “twice the size” of her case and, as an artist, often had a digital camera with her. Now her phone case is a combination of all of these – and more.
Sara Hayward still carries physical cards but tucked into the case of her phone. Photograph: Sara Hayward/Guardian Community
“I keep my bank card, airport taxi card, supermarket loyalty card, local stately home garden season ticket, note to self stating annual multi-trip travel insurance information, GHIC card, Polaroid snapshot of me, my daughter and my son’s girlfriend at a recent Mallorcan wedding, receipts as I’m self-employed, and emergency cash.
“My phone has short videos of my mum before she passed away four years ago. It’s like a living wallet having her on there.”
Hayward does not use any digital payment methods as physical cards feel more “secure”. The perfect compromise has one drawback though: “There’s no room for my lipstick and tissue.”
