Why Wallets Are Having Their Moment: Beyond Apple Pay and Google Pay

A conversation with Francesc Altisent, VP of Product at Mangopay, on the evolution and future of digital wallets

Digital wallets have come a long way from the early days of PayPal and SMS payments. Today, they’re not just about consumer convenience—they’re becoming essential infrastructure for businesses looking to capture and retain value in new ways.

We sat down with Francesc Altisent, VP of Product at Mangopay, to understand why wallets are suddenly everywhere and how they’re reshaping the payments landscape for platforms, marketplaces, merchants and virtually anyone with a smart device.

The Evolution From Storage to Strategy

When asked about the evolution of digital wallets, Francesc makes an important distinction. “There are two types of wallets,” he explains. “There are wallets that carry the name as part of a commercial label, like Apple Pay and Google Pay, and then there are wallets where actual value is stored. By value, I mean money, rewards, gift cards, or other assets a user can hold and later use.”

This second category is where things get interesting for businesses. As Francesc puts it: “A wallet is a place where you store value for a certain amount of time until you want to redeem it.” This simple concept has profound implications for how modern businesses operate.

The journey from early pioneers like PayPal and M-PESA to today’s ecosystem shows how wallets have evolved from simple payment tools to sophisticated value management systems. Whether it’s a closed-loop wallet for a single merchant or an open-loop system that works across multiple platforms, the core principle remains: capturing and managing value digitally.

Why Every Business Is Becoming a Wallet Business

So why are wallets suddenly everywhere? According to Francesc, it’s about how merchants view value creation today.

“Before, value creation was linear. I sell something, and the transaction ends there,” he notes. “Now we are starting to see platforms or merchants that are normally turning into platforms that basically say, ‘Well, instead of refunding my customer, I would rather credit the value in a wallet.”

Francesc shares a particularly compelling example: “There is a PSP that actually is part of our infrastructure… they leverage an acquirer, then they use our wallet infrastructure to receive the funds, and divide those funds across all the parties.”

This shift creates multiple opportunities:

• Double value capture: Merchants keep funds within their ecosystem longer
• Creator economies: Enabling new business models for freelancers and specialists
• Marketplace growth: Supporting buy-and-sell dynamics within platforms
• Compliance solutions: Helping unlicensed businesses provide licensed services

The Hidden Power of B2B Wallets

While consumer wallets get the headlines, business wallets are quietly transforming how money moves behind the scenes. These aren’t your typical Apple Pay or Google Pay wallets—they’re sophisticated financial infrastructure that offer their user base with a range of real-world benefits.

“We use the term wallet, but it has literally nothing to do with a consumer-facing wallet. These are really backstage types of use cases,” Francesc clarifies.

Consider these real-world applications:

• Investment platforms: Where returns accumulate in wallets over years before redemption
• Property management: Landlords providing tenants with dedicated IBANs linked to wallets for rent collection
• Buy now, pay later: Managing instalment payments through wallet infrastructure
• Global marketplaces: Supporting sellers from across Asia Pacific, Latin America and the US operating on European based platforms

Building Value Beyond Basic Storage

Modern wallet infrastructure isn’t just about holding funds—it’s about adding value at every step. Francesc highlights several key capabilities that make wallets powerful business tools:

Foreign Exchange Services “We have sellers that come from Japan, China, Australia, the US and others,” he explains. “Enabling foreign exchange between wallets of different currencies… that’s a very interesting and very common added value service.”

IBAN Integration “We can attach an IBAN to that wallet. So effectively that wallet becomes reachable… You can drop money into that IBAN, and the money will immediately appear in your wallet.”

Instant Payments With instant payments becoming mandatory for most European banks, wallet providers are racing to enable faster money movement between wallets and traditional bank accounts.

The Future: Orchestration and Innovation

Looking ahead, Francesc sees wallets becoming even more central to payment orchestration strategies. “We’ve moved from a world where relying on a single acquirer was the norm. Today, having a payment orchestration layer that lets businesses connect to and route transactions across multiple acquirers has become a must-have.”

The next 12-18 months will bring:

• Integration with payment orchestration layers
• Wallets that hold points without monetary correspondence
• Enhanced instant payment capabilities
• More sophisticated value-added services

As Francesc notes, the goal is “making the value of our wallet even more compelling to merchants” by decoupling services and enabling greater flexibility.

Wallets as Business Infrastructure

The conversation with Francesc reveals an important truth: wallets aren’t just payment methods anymore. They’re becoming core business infrastructure that enables new models, improves cash flow and creates competitive advantages.

Mangopay’s recent research underscores this shift. Their survey of 5,000 consumers across Europe found that in-app wallets are already the third most preferred payment method, just behind cards and bank transfers, and that nearly half of consumers have used them at least once. More importantly, wallets directly address the top frustrations consumers face online: slow refunds and limited payment options. In fact, 36% of respondents said they would make future purchases more willingly if refunds were processed directly into a wallet rather than through slower bank transfers.

For merchants and marketplaces, these insights point to a clear imperative. Embedding wallets into your ecosystem isn’t just about keeping up with consumer preferences—it’s about unlocking measurable business benefits: faster refunds that increase trust, payout options that keep sellers engaged, and reward mechanisms that drive repeat purchases. 

Adopting digital wallets today means future-proofing your platform tomorrow, strengthening customer loyalty, and ensuring you remain competitive in an increasingly wallet-driven economy.