The latest innovation of ‘mobile wallets’ for credit card payments is now a rise, with major payment processors like MasterCard and PayPal jumping on the bandwagon and offering their own mobile wallet apps. The new innovation eliminates the plastic covering of the phone and turns it into a digital payment portal.

As credit card companies and retailers seem to be banking on consumers finding the swiping and signing process far too time-consuming and tedious, they are trying to see a future in contactless payments, Fox News reports.According to the report, when it comes time to pay, retailers may scan a bar code on the phone, consumers may tap their device on a reader or they may do nothing at all as the register and phone communicate automatically using ‘near field communication’ technology.

However, while mobile wallets can be convenient, they are limited by the number of retailers who are equipped to accept payments via the near field communication technology used by many apps, the report said.Regardless of the method, consumers are often free to go their way without swiping a card, entering a PIN or signing a receipt.A 2012 survey conducted by the Carlisle & Gallagher Consulting Group found that over 48% of respondents expressed interest in mobile wallet technology, while younger consumers between the ages of 18-50 and those in households earning more than 50,000 dollars a year were most interested in these mobile apps.