Difference Between Closed Wallet & Semi Closed Wallet

Narendra Kumar

06 Jun, 2024

A facility provided for payments that permit individuals to send & receive money from a mobile device or desktop computer at no cost to either sender or receiver is a wallet. Whereas an E-Wallet allows one to stock multiple credit card & bank account numbers in a secure atmosphere eradicate the requirement to enter into account information when making one’s payment. However, one has registered & created E-Wallet profiles, one can make payments faster & with less typing. A prepaid digital wallet denotes an electronic device that allows an individual to create electronic transactions. This can comprise purchasing items online with a computer or use a Smartphone to purchase something at a store. Some of the top 10 mobile wallet companies in India are PayTM, PayU Money, Mobikwik, Citi Master Pass, ICICI Pockets, etc.

• Closed Wallet

E-wallets have been around for fairly some time & their acceptance has been increasing at an exponential rate. Digital wallets have almost become payment banks in the e-commerce industry. A Closed wallet is a brilliant device for developing client faithfulness by way of providing reward based cash back & also for crediting money in contradiction of the rejected orders by forcing the customers to use the money for the purchase of goods or services being provided by the issuer. Closed wallets are wallets which are delivered by a company to a consumer for procurement of goods & services entirely from that company. Examples – Amazon Wallet.

• Semi Closed Wallet

In semi closed wallets, one can do shopping & transfer virtual fund to another user in same wallet network. Semi-closed wallet also allows one in transforming a certain amount of wallet balance to their bank A/c. Semi-closed wallets are very popular in India. These wallets are making online shopping simpler and also providing a high level of security in payments.  These wallets offer rapid transactions as well as uninterrupted refunds. The wide service coverage is another factor which contributes to the success of this concept.

• Difference between Closed wallet & Semi Closed Wallet

Closed wallets facilitating the purchase of goods and services with single vendor issuing such wallet. They do not provide a facility for cash withdrawal or redemption.

Semi-closed wallets which have a specific contract with the issuer to accept the payment instruments but do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder&which enables the procuring of goods & services which consist of financial services at a group of clearly recognized merchant locations/ establishments.

The prepaid payment instruments that can be issued in the country are classified into the four categories i.e.

• Closed system payment instruments
• Semi-Closed system payment instruments
• Semi-Open system payment instruments and
• Open system payment instruments

Closed System Payment Instruments are the payment instruments usually issued by business establishments for use at their respective establishment only. These instruments do not permit cash withdrawal or redemption. Illustration – Free charge credit, Ola money etc.

While these-Closed System Payment tools are payment tools which are redeemable at a group of clearly identified merchant locations/ establishments which contract specifically with the issuer to accept the payment instrument. These devices don’t permit cash withdrawal or redemption by the holder. Illustration – PayTM.