Wallet Funding Source

A wallet funding source is where the money in a digital wallet comes from. Common sources are a debit or credit card, a linked bank account debited by ACH debit, direct debit or pay by bank, cash paid in at an agent or shop, and incoming transfers from other users. Some wallets store value and draw from the balance, while pass-through wallets such as card-based mobile wallets charge the linked card or account at the moment of each payment. The choice of funding source matters to the provider because each carries a different cost and risk: card funding brings interchange fees and chargeback exposure, bank debits can be returned days later, and cash is final but costly to handle. Fraudsters often add stolen cards as funding sources and move the value out quickly, so providers verify new sources, apply holds and limits, and check that the name on the source matches the wallet holder. See top-up.