Mini wallets, outlined on the size of a credit card, designed to hold just the cards, a few banknotes and maybe a couple of coins, are a recent trend. They miniaturize the design of the wallet as we know it, established around the middle of the twentieth century, with its booklet opening and the space for credit cards on one side. But payment methods are changing, moving more and more to smartphones and wearable devices. According to the latest news, Apple also wants to take passport and driver's license out of our pockets and put them into an iPhone app. There is less and less need for a large wallet to carry paper notes and documents, because even those are often in the phone, stored in some app or in a digital archive in the cloud. And with the increase in contactless options, cards need a secure slot that screens out unwanted communications with cards.
Ekster is a young Dutch company that is now a leader in the field of smart wallets, thanks to the use of valuable materials – vegan leather among the latest novelties – and the development of a special snap-on card holder, which allows access to the card compartment with a simple click. Among the smart options there is an accessory that makes this wallet really difficult to lose: the tracker card uses the tracking technology developed by Chipolo to signal in real time on the smartphone where the wallet is, as long as it is within range of the Bluetooth network, with the possibility of receiving a series of notifications in case of distancing; in short, useful if you are careless, a little less if it is stolen. The tracker card is the size of a credit card and a little thicker, so you can actually use it with any wallet. And it recharges with solar energy, which is not bad. In the Parliament Wallet we tested there's a special pocket on the back where you can put it, which is in addition to the two inside the booklet opening and the Ekster's proprietary snap-in compartment. On the site you can also buy other models, all with various coloring options.
A wallet for the 21st century? Maybe still a little big, the difference in size with a standard wallet is not that much. In addition, the old-fashioned appearance, with intensive use of leather or vegan alternatives, may displease both those who are used to high leather goods or prestigious brands wallets, and those who are looking for a product that uses more innovative materials and lines, perhaps with the aim of obtaining a thinner product. And perhaps it would have made sense to insert the tracker directly into the body of the wallet itself, for obvious safety reasons. Anyway, as long as the smartphone doesn't swallow it, this is definitely an example of a wallet in step with the times.
