I see them as apps, but what are the functionality, and benefits of this ?
Answer
Instead of having direct access to a bank account, a wallet has a balance that you recharge. A wallet has widespread usage on smartPhones in Japan — vending machines accept payment from the wallet. In Europe the parking kiosk machines only accept cash or digital wallets and that is built into the credit cards they use with the embedded memory chips. Here in America digital wallets have yet to catch on unless some web sites accept them as payment.