The Real Wallet War Isn't Apple Vs. Google. It's Platforms Vs. Merchants

Forbes

2 days ago

Everyone wants to own your wallet.
Apple, Amazon, Klarna and Samsung are all building their own gateways to own the customer experience. But this isn't just a race to replace your physical card. It's a deeper power shift that many merchants are only beginning to understand.
The real wallet war isn't between payment apps. It's between platforms and merchants. And the battleground is customer control.
Wallets used to be utilities. Now they decide who gets seen, which offers get surfaced, and which brands stay top of mind. Whoever owns the wallet owns the transaction and the relationship.
This shift is already underway. And the smartest merchants are taking action.
Wallets Are Now Commerce Platforms
Wallets have evolved from payment tools to decision engines. Every tap influences rewards, credit, identity, and brand exposure. They're no longer just a step in checkout. They're the surface where decisions get made.
Apple and Amazon are building closed ecosystems. Klarna is embedding into browsers and checkout flows. Samsung is playing a different game by focusing on access, integration, and utility.
At the same time, brand-owned wallets are gaining traction. Merchants are embedding payments and loyalty inside their apps to preserve data, deepen engagement, and drive conversion.
The Three Levers That Define Wallet Winners
Winning wallets succeed across three strategic levers:
Who's Getting It Right
Samsung Wallet emphasizes flexibility. It supports payments, loyalty cards, IDs, car keys, and even crypto credentials. Its utility-first approach is resonating in markets where interoperability matters.
Amazon, through Buy with Prime, is turning its wallet into infrastructure. Stored credentials and trusted delivery are extending far beyond its own marketplace.
Retailers like Walmart, Starbucks, and Target treat wallets as strategic assets. Their apps bring together payments, loyalty, and offers into one branded flow. That gives them more control, more data, and more reasons for customers to come back.
Why Merchants Are Reassessing Wallet Strategy
The conversation has shifted. It's no longer 'Should we support wallets?' It's 'How do we offer speed and simplicity without giving up the relationship?'
Merchants are asking better questions. Does this wallet return data or just dollars? Does it reinforce our brand or replace it? Are we building loyalty or outsourcing it?
More brands are looking to offer installment options, loyalty features, and personalized offers inside their own experience. Redirecting to third parties often means handing off the customer and the data that powers growth.
Regulation and the New Playbook for Wallets
Regulators are watching. In the U.S., the DOJ is investigating Apple's limits on NFC access. In Europe, the Digital Markets Act is already forcing structural change.
This isn't just about fairness. It's about how digital commerce gets built. Platforms that extract value while blocking data or access are now under pressure.
AI and the Risk of Being Written Out
Artificial intelligence is reshaping the wallet landscape. The next evolution won't be about faster payments or stronger security. It will be about anticipating intent and influencing behavior.
We're entering the age of predictive payments, invisible checkout, and personalized offers. But the question isn't just what AI can do. It's who it will serve.
In closed platforms, AI will optimize for the platform. It will retain users and prioritize internal value. In open ecosystems, AI can enhance brand connection, drive conversion, and create loyalty that sticks.
The real battleground isn't the checkout screen. It's the intelligence layer that guides customers there.
This creates risk. Smarter wallets are already deciding which brand to show, what offer to surface, what method to suggest. If you're not part of that logic, your brand becomes invisible. Still in the cart, but out of the relationship.
That's not convenience. That's disintermediation.
Be the Brand in the Wallet, Not Just the Shipment Behind It
This is not a payments story. It's a control story.
Wallets are becoming the interface layer of digital commerce. They influence discovery, loyalty, and decision-making.
The winners will treat wallets as strategic channels. Branded. Data-rich. AI-smart. Built around experience, not just access.
You don't need to own the rails. But you do need to own the moment.
Because in the wallet era, whoever owns the experience owns the relationship.