Today’s shopping experience is vastly different than it was 20 or even 10 years ago. Gone are the days of visiting a retailer in person or paying for items with cash. Now, you can order everything from clothing to cars online and pay for items with a digital wallet. According to PYMNTS, 53% of Americans use digital wallets, and that number is only expected to grow.
With digital wallets, shoppers can use Click to Pay to quickly purchase items without having to manually enter their payment information. Click to Pay speeds up the checkout process, but there are some downsides to keep in mind.
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Click to Pay is a feature many major credit card companies offer that allows you to quickly and seamlessly complete transactions without entering your credit card details for every purchase. This feature was created to speed up the checkout process online.
It’s available from credit cards with all four major credit card networks: American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa.
Read more: Best Amex Cards
When you make a purchase online, there are several steps: You add items to your cart, click on “checkout,” and then enter your mailing address, billing address, and credit card information. Depending on the site, it can take several minutes. Click to Pay aims to streamline the experience.
With Click to Pay, you can create a secure profile and add multiple credit cards; some platforms also allow you to add debit or prepaid cards. Your card information is stored in your account, and you can choose from the saved cards to pay for the purchase.
You can shop online at most major retailers and service providers. Eligible sites will have the Click to Pay icon or will prompt you to enter your account information to use Click to Pay. When you click on the button, you skip the guest checkout; the platform will automatically enter your selected payment details and mailing address to quickly finish the process.
There are several pros and cons of this checkout method.
Click to Pay speeds up the shopping experience, allowing you to check out in seconds. When you’re in a rush — or trying to secure a good deal before it sells out — Click to Pay helps you complete the purchase quickly.
Click to Pay eliminates the need for physical cards or manually entering your payment information. The platform automatically enters the details you saved. That means if you’re trying to make a quick purchase from your sofa, you don’t have to find your wallet and credit card to finish checking out.
Online retailers often offer to save your payment details to speed up future transactions, but this benefit means the retailer has to store your information. While convenient, it presents a security risk. Hackers could steal the information, compromising your information in a data breach.
Click to Pay is more secure because merchants never receive your credit card information. Instead, it’s handled through the credit card network, and your details are converted into an encrypted number for that specific purchase. Plus, Click to Pay uses multifactor authentication, making it more difficult for fraudulent transactions to occur.
Although Click to Pay is convenient, it has a downside. Because there are fewer steps to complete a transaction and you can buy items with a single click, there’s an increased risk of impulse spending. The convenience of Click to Pay means it’s easier to make purchases immediately, so you may not think through whether it fits into your budget.
In fact, that reason is likely why retailers are eager to offer Click to Pay. According to Mastercard, Click to Pay reduces shopping cart abandonment and increases sales conversions.
Not all retailers allow Click to Pay, so even if you set up an account, you may still have to enter your payment details and mailing address on some sites.
Click to Pay can be a quick and convenient way to pay for your purchases online, and it may be more secure than other payment methods. However, it does increase the risk of impulse purchases and increased spending, so consider these precautions:
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Set up waiting periods: Make a rule to add items to your cart but wait 24 hours before checking out. A one-day pause may make you rethink the purchase.
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Unsubscribe from email lists: Retailers spend millions on research and advertising to get you to spend money. You can reduce the impact of their spending by unsubscribing from retailer emails. You may be surprised by how little you shop once you no longer get emails about the latest sales or product launches.
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Create (and stick to) a budget: The occasional fun purchase or splurge isn’t a problem, but you can remove the guilt (and the risk of overspending) by creating a budget and sticking to it. Popular budgeting techniques like the 50/30/10 approach make it easier to manage your money.
Read more: How to budget: Your complete guide to budgeting for 2025
Click to Pay is offered by American Express, Discover, Mastercard, and Visa. Thousands of retailers accept Click to Pay for purchases.
When you visit a card network’s site, such as Mastercard or Visa, you can create a Click to Pay profile. You may also be prompted to create a profile on a retailer’s checkout page. You’ll enter your personal and payment information, which is then saved to your new Click to Pay account.
When it’s time to make an online purchase, you can select the Click to Pay option and follow the prompts.
Click to Pay is safer than other payment methods. With Click to Pay, the platform creates an encrypted credit card number for that specific purchase, and your actual credit card details are never shared with the retailer, so there’s a smaller risk of your information being stolen.
This article was edited by Alicia Hahn.
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