JARVIS reimagined: The rise of the intelligent wallet
Digital wallets have fast become part of daily life. By 2027, they're expected to account for half of all retail sales —around $25 trillion worldwide. It's easy to see why. Paying with a digital wallet is easy, secure, and requires nothing more than a phone. But there's potential for wallets to do so much more, beyond payments.
Digital wallets started as payment tools. Now, they're becoming platforms for everything: verifying identity, storing loyalty cards, presenting boarding passes and rail tickets, accessing insurance documents, and roadside assistance memberships. This isn't just convenience—it's intelligence in your pocket. In China, super apps like WeChat let people manage investments, book rideshares, order food, schedule medical appointments, access government services, and engage with social networks. It's meeting a growing demand for more personalized digital experiences.
It's me, always
Identity is no longer a card in your wallet—it is your wallet. As governments around the world implement digital passports and driver's licenses, they will be held in digital wallets. In Belgium, more than 80% of those over 16 use itsme for secure identification, digital transactions, and electronic signatures, with millions of actions performed daily.
Another example—the EU Digital Identity Wallet—is expected to launch for all EU citizens, residents, and businesses by 2026. It will store users' documentation so they can securely access public and private online services across member states. Given its focus on cross-border interactions, the EU program could be a precursor to a standardized global ID framework.
A wealth of management
Today, innovative companies are developing wallets into financial hubs that manage investments, loans, and cryptocurrencies. Revolut, for example, started as a currency exchange wallet and expanded into banking, trading, insurance, and wealth management. This year, the company plans to introduce one-day mortgage approvals and AI-powered assistants that provide personalized financial insights and recommendations.
The convergence of AI, blockchain, and fintech is pushing wallets' boundaries. Apps such as Trim, for example, function as AI-driven financial assistants that help users negotiate bills, cancel unwanted subscriptions, and automate savings. Argent, an Ethereum-based smart contract wallet, allows users to securely store, manage, and invest in cryptocurrencies.
Think: less banking app, more autonomous CFO. In a few years, wallets could be semi-autonomous financial agents that analyze a user's real-time cash flow, optimize investments, and negotiate loan rates with minimal human input. They may execute smart contracts for renting homes, leasing vehicles, or securing gig work, eliminating the need for traditional intermediaries. With integrated finance capabilities enabled by open banking, they could lend, borrow, and trade assets, adapting to market conditions as they change.
'Just A Rather Very Intelligent System'
Consider the number of apps we have on our phones, and the amount of time we spend logging in to various platforms and hopping between tasks. Imagine the digital wallet as a personal assistant that steps in for us—helping to manage shopping, banking, healthcare, and prescriptions, for example, or scheduling travel and rebooking flights when delays occur. It might not be JARVIS the AI butler from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but certainly it is a useful and intelligent assistant.
These assistants could make decisions on your behalf via agentic AI models. They have the potential to automatically calculate tax returns, pay utility bills, switch providers, order groceries based on household consumption patterns, share medical histories with healthcare professionals, and recommend spontaneous trips based on weather and work schedules. Imagine your wallet negotiating a mortgage rate at 3 a.m. while you sleep.
Know your agent
Considering the level of agency we may grant to these assistants, it is essential to ensure that they are secure and transparent. A statistic from the World Economic Forum suggests that only a minority of organizations currently have a process in place to assess the security of AI tools before deploying them. Know your agent protocols are in the ascendant, and rightly so. Regulatory and governance frameworks must enforce standards and require that AI models are auditable and free from bias. Solution developers must prioritize user control—enabling individuals to set privacy preferences, verify AI-driven decisions, and override automated actions.
In the future, the smartest thing in your pocket might not be your phone—it'll be the agent inside it. This is emerging territory, so businesses and governments should work together to develop open, secure, and ethical innovations. If done right, the digital wallet won't just carry your money—it will carry your life. And it'll do it with your permission, your priorities, and your protection in mind.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Carlsberg misses first-half forecasts, warns of difficult year
LONDON (Reuters) -Carlsberg missed half-year profit and volume forecasts on Thursday, with the Danish brewer warning it does not expect any improvement in the consumer environment for the rest of 2025. The world's third largest brewer behind Anheuser-Busch InBev and Heineken nevertheless raised its full-year profit guidance, breaking with those rivals who opted to keep their forecasts unchanged as U.S. tariffs drive uncertainties. Volume growth or forecasts at all three brewers have disappointed in recent weeks as the sector battles with weak demand, tariff impacts and poor weather, leaving investors fretting over growth. Carlsberg, which makes Kronenbourg 1664, Tuborg and Somersby, said it had grown first-half organic operating profit by 2.3%, while organic volumes slipped 1.7% - putting it just behind analyst expectations on both measures. CEO Jacob Aarup-Andersen said the group had "delivered solid results in a difficult half year". "We don't expect the consumer environment to improve over the remainder of the year," he warned, adding Carlsberg could narrow its profit guidance thanks to its strong performance management and cost discipline. It now expects annual operating profit growth of between 3% and 5% organically, compared with between 1% and 5% before. Its half-year operating profit stood at 7.23 billion Danish crowns ($1.13 billion), against analyst expectations for 7.35 billion crowns. ($1 = 6.3777 Danish crowns)
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Liverpool wake up to critical £200m CRISIS
Liverpool have spent an incredible amount of money this summer. But they've now walked into a crisis that needs fixing. This has been a transfer window to remember at Liverpool. The Reds have spent on a level they've never reached before, signing upgrades across the board. If you include Giorgi Mamardashvili's arrival, even if he was technically signed a year ago, we've seen additions in every area of the pitch. The Georgian will rival Alisson Becker in goal - we'll have to see how that goes. Shop the LFC Store LFC x adidas Shop the home range today! LFC x adidas Shop the goalkeeper range today LFC x adidas Shop the new adidas range today! There are additions at full-back, of course. Milos Kerkez and Jeremie Frimpong are now the most expensive left-back and right-back respectively in Liverpool's history. Hugo Ekitiké is the most expensive forward in Liverpool's history. He joins from Eintracht Frankfurt and started with a bang - a brilliant goal just four minutes into his competitive debut on Sunday. And then there's Florian Wirtz. He's now the club's record signing and potentially the British transfer record, should all add-ons be met (and a bigger deal doesn't happen in between). Incredible spending, then. But there's a problem. 🔴 Shop the LFC 2025/26 adidas away range Liverpool lean left Liverpool looked electric at times against Crystal Palace in the Community Shield. As mentioned, it took four minutes for some great play down the left to find Wirtz who set up Ekitiké for a wonderful goal. Liverpool were much the better team, in fact, until Palace made a substitution on 29 minutes. That saw Will Hughes enter the fray and he essentially just sat in the Wirtz's space. So what did Wirtz do? He drifted towards the left, as he prefers. Only, Palace's back three wasn't leaving much space in the middle for Ekitiké, who also drifted left. Cody Gakpo was playing on the left, meaning he was naturally in that space. Seeing a problem? It was actually worse than that. Kerkez is a left-back who excels at over and underlapping, getting beyond the winger and stretching play. That's incredibly difficult to do when three teammates are operating there. It leaves no space to run into, which meant Kerkez frequently looked like a left-sided centre-back at times. Even worse, Dominik Szoboszlai, playing in the middle of midfield, likes to drift wide and that was his side of the pitch. It meant Liverpool had five players all wanting similar space. © Sofa Score - Copyright: Sofascore The above is Liverpool's average positions for their starting XI against Palace (per Sofascore - you can find more match data here). The Reds are ridiculously lopsided as everyone bar Mo Salah and Jeremie Frimpong look left. That has the added effect of isolating the right side, who rarely saw the ball. Salah had just 26 touches across the 90 - he averaged 49 last season. A problem exacerbated by not having Trent Alexander-Arnold out there as a playmaker from right-back. That essentially forced the team to play on both flanks but it's no longer the case. This is why that Hughes substitution neutered Liverpool. It left them unable to play through the middle and with so many players all taking up positions on the left to compensate, too few were left on the right. Liverpool were disjointed and lost. No one was able to show what they can do as they either didn't have the space to do it or didn't have the ball. This was always going to be something of a problem, of course. Wirtz, Ekitiké and Kerkez contributed to the issue as they're all new players who aren't yet used to playing with one another. But it's also down to Arne Slot. He's got to find a way for these stars to play their natural game together, in a way that doesn't compromise what they do nor compromise what teammates want to do. It's a challenge but one we know he's up for. It'll be an interesting season to say the least.
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
UK insurer Aviva raises dividend after half-year profit jumps 22%
(Reuters) -British insurer Aviva raised its interim dividend on Thursday after reporting a 22% jump in half-year operating profit, driven by strong growth in UK & Ireland general insurance premiums and higher wealth net flows. The company, which closed a 3.7 billion pound ($5.02 billion) takeover of smaller rival Direct Line in July, said it would provide more details on Direct Line and the impact of the deal on its targets in November. "(Direct Line) integration is well underway... and we are confident the deal will contribute significantly to Aviva's future growth," CEO Amanda Blanc said in a statement. Aviva, which also provides wealth and retirement services, said it expected some areas of rate softening in the second half of the year for its general insurance business, but its wealth and health divisions were expected to grow further. The company posted an operating profit of 1.07 billion pounds for the six-month period ended June 30, compared with the 875 million pounds reported for the year-earlier period. The insurer raised its dividend by 10% to 13.1 pence per share. ($1 = 0.7365 pounds) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
