How to Open and Set Up a Digital Wallet?

Digital wallets are very convenient. They are easy to use and allow you to fulfill many of your financial needs in a single app. However, to a beginner, digital wallets might feel complex and confusing. If you feel like you need some help in figuring out how to open a digital wallet, then you came to the right place.

In this guide we will show you how to create a digital wallet and how to set it up using the most popular digital wallet apps as examples.

How to Open a Digital Wallet

Time to get started! First, you need to decide whether you want to get an online digital wallet or an app on your smartphone. How do you choose?

Choose online if

• You want your wallet to be easily accessible from any device you have without downloading an app. This is useful if you change devices frequently or use several platforms and want to access a single wallet from them easily. It also protects you from ending up with no way to use your money if your phone is broken or stolen.

• You want to access your wallet from a desktop computer. This might be useful if you don’t have a smartphone or just prefer working on a big screen.

• You want your wallet to always be updated. Most apps are usually updated automatically but sometimes you need to download an update manually. Since not having up-to-date software is a security risk, you might want to opt for a website-based solution. 

• You want to use your wallet mostly for online shopping. Some wallets have integrations with browsers that add convenient features, like auto-filling payment details.

Choose an app if

• You want to be mobile. An app-based wallet can be used anywhere, as long as you have your smartphone on you.

• You want to pay with your smartphone to various in-store businesses. No need to carry cash if you can just place your phone near the payment terminal and the wallet will do the rest.

• You want to be protected by enhanced security measures. A mobile app can make sure you are the one using your wallet with advanced biometric checks, such as facial recognition, as well as retina and fingerprint scans.

• You want to receive push notifications on your phone to stay informed on the status of your transactions and any important updates.

Once you have chosen the option that works for you, you will be ready to learn how to open a digital wallet. 

How to Open an Online Digital Wallet

There are a lot of digital wallets to choose from. If you don’t know which one to choose, you may consult our guide on the best digital wallets. For the purposes of this guide, we will use Volet.com as an example, but the process will be similar with other wallets.

• Go to the website. Open your web browser and go to Volet.com.

• Click the ‘Sign Up’ button. Alternatively, you can click ‘Create free account now’. Both will start the sign-up process.

• Fill out the sign-up form. Write your name, email address, and create a password for your account. After you complete all of the instructions, click ‘Register’ 

• Confirm your email. After you click the button, you will receive an email with a confirmation code from Volet. Open it and press ‘Confirm’ to finish the registration.

• Congratulations! You have successfully opened a digital wallet. Now you can log in to your account with the email and password you’ve chosen and begin using your digital wallet.

How to Open a Digital Wallet App

To start using a digital wallet, you first need to have it installed on your phone or tablet.

First, check it is already preinstalled.

• Devices on macOS have Apple Pay preinstalled, so don’t need to download anything. Skip ahead and refer to the ‘How To Set Up a Digital Wallet’ section.

• Devices on Android also often have Google Pay (or Samsung Pay) preinstalled. If that’s the case you may also skip ahead.

• If your device has no digital wallet installed or you don’t want to use the default one, then you will need to download one. In this example, we will use Chase Mobile. So, how to set up Chase digital wallet? 

Open Google Play store and search for the desired digital wallet. Once you find it, tap ‘Install’.

Wait until the app is downloaded and installed. Tap open, and the app will launch. From there, follow the instructions on the screen.
 

Congratulations! Once you finish, you have successfully downloaded and opened a digital wallet app.

How to Set Up a Digital Wallet

Once you are finished with downloading and account creation, there is still a lot you can do to fine-tune your digital wallet for your needs.

1. Link your credit cards and bank accounts. You need to connect your payment methods to use them. The process is fairly straightforward, but if you’d like some additional assistance (for example on how to create a digital card for Apple wallet), you may refer to our guide.

2. Set up your security measures. There are ways to additionally enhance the security of your wallet. Namely, you can enable multi-factor authentication (MFA). It will require anyone trying to access your wallet to provide an additional piece of information. It may be a password, a one-time code from a text message, or even biometrics, such as facial recognition, as well as finger and retina scan. This greatly increases the security of your money.

3. Set up alerts and notifications. Some wallets allow you to personalize alerts and notifications for any circumstance like low balance, suspicious activity, statuses of transactions and many more.

4. Add transit cards. You already removed the need to carry your bank cards with you. Add your public transportation cards as well, and see how convenient it is.

5. Enable cross-device synchronization. Set up cross-device sync between your devices, so that whatever you use to access your wallet, you will get a seamless experience.

The Specifics of Cryptocurrency Wallets

There are some important caveats to consider when it comes to crypto wallets. First, you’ll need to decide whether you need a cold wallet or a hot wallet.

The difference between them lies in the way that the funds are stored. Hot wallets are connected to the internet, while cold wallets are offline.

Hot Wallets

Hot crypto wallets function in the same way, as non-crypto ones we’ve explained above. There are mobile apps, websites, and desktop platforms. If you want to know how to open a digital wallet for cryptocurrency, just refer to an earlier section, provided you want to open a hot wallet.

And there are several reasons to do so! 

• Convenience. Hot wallets are good for frequent payments, trading, and exchanges since they are much more easily accessible.

• Easy to use. Hot wallets are much easier to open and operate than cold ones. In case something is wrong with your account, you may expect customer support to help you, so the risk of losing your money to a forgotten password is much lower.

• Integration. Often integrated with other financial tools and services, including DeFi platforms, exchanges, and payment processors.

Cold Wallets

The whole point of cold wallets is that they aren’t connected to the internet. This makes them highly resilient to hacking but demands much more diligence when you manage and create them.  Detached nature makes cold wallets much safer digitally, but incurs physical risks such as losing them, or damaging them.

There are different types of cold wallets:

• Hardware Wallets: Physical devices designed to securely store private keys offline. Private keys are password-like sequences of symbols that allow access and to manage corresponding funds.

• Paper Wallets: Physical printouts or handwritten notes of private and public keys.

• Air-Gapped Devices: Computers or devices that are never connected to the internet.

Two key advantages come with using cold wallets:

• Enhanced Security: Since they are offline, cold wallets are less vulnerable to hacking or unauthorized access.

• Long-Term Storage: Cold wallets excel at safely holding large amounts of coins for a long time, provided you don’t need to access these savings very often.

However, cold wallets are more difficult to set up. Choose this option only if you feel that you need to add an extra layer of safety to your coins and are ready to shoulder a bigger responsibility in regards to that. 

How To Set Up a Cold Digital Wallet for Cryptocurrency

To create a hardware cold storage wallet for cryptocurrency, follow these steps:

1. Choose a trusted manufacturer. Do your own research and find a secure hardware wallet.

2. Buy a hardware wallet. Buy directly from the manufacturers. Otherwise you can purchase a compromised device and lose your money.

3. Safely store your recovery seed phrase offline. You will be provided with a recovery seed phrase. It’s a multiple word phrase that will help you restore access to your device if you lose or damage it. Write it down and store it securely. Do not store it on your phone or computer if they are connected to the internet!

4. Connect the device and follow setup instructions. Use the USB cable to connect to your computer. When you do, you will see instructions on the screen. Follow them to set up the wallet, create a PIN code and a password. Store them offline.

5. Transfer funds. Transfer your coins to your wallet address from your hot wallet.

6. Store safely. Disconnect the device from the computer. From now on your funds are secure, as long as you do not lose or damage the device.

Tips and Recommendations

• None of the information above should be considered self-sufficient financial advice! This is simply a guide on how to create a digital wallet. As for choosing the wallet provider, do your own research and exercise your own judgment.

• Consider testing your crypto wallet first with smaller amounts. This way you familiarize yourself with the interface and minimize the cost of failure if you make any mistakes.

• Please note that most popular hot crypto wallet providers nowadays implement cold storage of user funds. If you feel like you’ve found a reputable hot wallet that offers cold storage as a security measure, consider using it.

Conclusion

There are a variety of different digital wallets on the market. The providers do their best to make their products as beginner-friendly as possible so it stands to reason why opening a digital wallet is a fairly simple task. We hope that if you ever wondered how to make a digital wallet for yourself, now you understand how to do it.