(Here is a follow-on article.)
I finally decided to try out a digital wallet system. By this we mean a system that uses an NFC (near field communications) radio link to pay at a store. You can recognize which stores are equipped for NFC payments by looking for this logo (right).
Of course the digital wallet system that is all over the media lately is Apple Pay, which works only with certain very recently released models of iPhones.
It turns out that Apple Pay is the johnny-come-lately to the NFC party. Other companies have been offering NFC payment systems (digital wallets) for over a year now. These systems that have been around for over a year do not require you to have an iPhone.