DIGITAL WALLETS
Like the digital cash firms that attempted to create an alternate currency for the Internet, digital wallet services proved particularly short-lived. Companies like American Express Co. and Wells Fargo & Co. ventured into digital wallet technology in late 1999 and early 2000, only to discontinue those offerings in 2001. Essentially, a digital wallet allows online shoppers to save in a single place all of the address and payment information they'd need to supply an online merchant with before making a purchase. The impetus behind the technology was that increasing convenience and reducing the amount of time shoppers spent filling out lengthy forms would encourage online shopping. However, consumers failed to embrace the idea for a variety of reasons. Some analysts claim the technology was poorly marketed by the sites that adopted it. Some point to the fact that consumers were uncomfortable with the idea of storing so much personal information in a single place. Others cite the inconvenience of having to download the technology, particularly since sites like retailing giant Amazon.com saved each shopper's information automatically anyway.
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