.. to ask advice about how to set myself up to pay by phone ...

[MereDintofPandiculation]

... things like car parking charges and recharging an electric car.

I have a second hand smart phone running Android which I use for calls, texts, pictures, and carrying documents to meetings. I'm on PAYG, and I don't use it for internet, because I don't at the moment have any security software on it. I'm realising it's about time I caught up, and in particular I'm seeing more car parking where you can pay only by mobile phone.

So what do I need to do to get myself sorted?

As far as I see it, the steps I need to take are:
Get myself an email address for phone use (I don't want all my primarily business emails landing on my mobile)
Get a security app (which one? Avast? Kapersky? How?)
Get a source of money. I don't have on-line banking, so I need an on-line bank account. Or can I do it via credit card, and how do I set that up? Which is the more secure, a credit card stored on the phone app, or access to an on-line bank account with not too much money in it?

Anything I've forgotten? Any helpful advice?

Can't believe I was once a (relatively) early adopter (internet user since 1996) and now I'm totally adrift.

You might need separate personal and work emails, not separate phone and other device. An email address isn't necessarily associated with a device anyway, you can use any address from any device, and you can switch the one it happens to be currently looking at. (I know gmail app in android allows you to switch between different addresses in settings.)

Most phones don't have a dedicated third-party security app installed, I'm not sure they're needed.

You don't especially need on-line banking to accomplish anything mentioned, though it might be a good idea for its own sake. You need bank or credit card details to give people. They aren't stored on the phone, they're stored by people you give them to on their computers.

Set up a PayPal account
This stores your card details
You then 'pay by paypal' and log in to agree payment - it's quite simple

Agree with gmail - I have 3 email accounts to view on my phone

One for business one for work and a personal one - easy to switch

You phone should be password protected so not an issue

Thanks, both. So if I set up a paypal account, do I have to log in to paypal to make a payment? Eg if I "pay by paypal" for my on-line groceries, does it ask me my paypal password? That would be good because then I wouldn't have my credit card details stored in so many places. Is there any downside with a paypal account?

Does every app that wants you to pay for something accept payment by paypal?

I know I could just have different email addresses for business and personal, but I'm happy with my current set up, of one email address and automatic rules to sort mail into separate mailboxes according to sender, subject etc. Hence wanting a separate gmail identity for my phone.

Why is on-line banking a good idea for its own sake?

Phone is password protected ...but what if I'm using public wifi - do I not need anti-virus? Relative runs business by phone because she travels a lot, and is forever having her account compromised.

Not every app/site will accept PayPal, no.

On the security side, just be careful what apps you install and what sites you visit. I've had an Android phone forever, I've never used any security software, and I've never had a problem.

Websites redirect you to your Paypal account to sign in, then it kicks you back to the original site to click confirm payment
You get an email from PayPal and the website on purchase
Most offer PayPal
You can store card detais on some websites if you want to, you don't have too.
I memorise my card details it's not difficult so you don't always need it to hand
Most banks offer online banking as an extra, but you don't have to use it

You can do a lot of things yourself online banking - pay bills set up direct debits or stop them, transfer cash to others or receive cash (hand for local buy and sell sites for example) you can see your balances and any regular payments made to companies (gas electric) you can see what DD are set up and date they leave your account.

Quite simple really

First direct give you £250 free overdraft. Been with them 20 odd years, they phone immediately if they think there's a chance of fraud - say my card has unusual activeity or I'm in a different location. Their security is good and customer service is excellent - phone always answers within 3 rings. Etc