A digital payment refers to the use of a completely electronic transaction between the buyer and seller, replacing the use of exchanging cash, checks or physically swiping or inserting a card.

Digital payments are an increasingly popular way to pay for both goods and services. Customers that use digital payments enjoy the convenience of having payment capability easily available, as well as payment simplicity.

Here are some example scenarios:

1. You go to the gym and just grab your keys & phone, leaving your wallet or purse at home for safety and to travel light. On your way home, you realize you need milk for your breakfast. Instead of going home to get your money or card, you simply stop off at the store and make your payment using the card you’ve enabled on your phone. 
   
2. You’re watching TV and you see a commercial for a local restaurant. You grab your iPhone that’s sitting next to you and you search Groupon for a discount coupon. You find one and easily make the purchase using Apple Pay, which offers in-app purchases simply using TouchIDTM.
3. You’re shopping online from your computer and find something you want to buy. Your wallet or purse is in another room. No worries, though, with Visa Checkout® you can complete your purchase without getting your card and entering in your card details. You simply use Visa’s one-click option and you’re done.

The technology behind digital payments has developed with increased security in mind. A key technology is tokenization. Tokenization is a process that replaces the primary account number with a one-time value called a token. A token is only good for that one transaction. If that token was stolen, it would be meaningless for any other transaction.

Not all merchants can process digital payments today. However, as merchants further adopt the technology needed to process digital payments, this payment method will continue to grow making digital payments more ubiquitous.