Mbacco Wallet review – Not too big or too small, exactly right

REVIEW – Minimalist wallets have been a thing for a while now, but the thing is many of us need more than 2 to 3 cards on us. ID, main credit card and… how do you down-select? Medical, EV Valet, corporate cc? Okay, need a bigger wallet. So here’s an interesting option from Mbacco. Compact single card footprint, RFID protection, great construction and up to 12 cards. A review was definitely in order.

What is it?

The Mbacco Wallet is a “quick action” wallet that’s held closed by an elastic strap. An accordion-style opening presents 5 pockets at unique angles to grab the card you need easily while still hiding some features.

What’s in the box?

• Mbacco wallet
• Mbacco information card

Design and features

Here’s what’s called out by Embacco along with my photos to showcase the feature.

• Expandable Mbacco™ Custom-made Opening: 5-9 cards for the Minimalist look, hold up to 12 cards in total.

• Secret Compartment Built-inside: Keep small essentials, such as a key or memory card safely tucked away. Or use it for some change.

• Outside Pockets on both sides: Perfect for small items. One pocket built to accept a standard card. Keep folded bills inside the wallet or outside pockets.

• RFID / NFC Protected: Keeps your cards protected from unwanted connections.

Performance

As you may have guessed from the intro, I tried and gave up on the minimalist magnetic wallets almost immediately. Not enough cards, fear of loss, and hard to deploy the card you need quickly. I went back to a small front pocket billfold and then would randomly rotate through some other options. I saved the magnetic ones for when I’m headed out on the bike and just need my ID, insurance and a single card on me.

Opening the Mbacco box and loading my cards was a breath of fresh air. There’s basically 5 slots for cards. The two outside slots and then the 3 accordion spots in the center. I put my 2 most used cards dead center, followed by 2 less frequent on one side and 2 semi-regular on the other. My health insurance is behind my ID on the front side, and my EV door lock card on the far side trapping some emergency cash in the recessed cavity.

The two outside pockets are useful for short-term needs like a hotel key card, or a business card you need to tuck away quickly. When it comes time to extract a card, I know what’s where at a glance (thanks to unique colored cards and my pairing).

Let’s talk about the elastic strap. It’s so simple in that it stretches to allow the wallet to accept some more volume, be it a card or receipts. It’s off-center left-to-right and sewn down low to make it easy to pull to the side with a fingertip to get to the cards, but more importantly, it prevents cards going flying if you fumble extracting the wallet from your pocket.

Mbacco sells the wallet in 6 color options: Charcoal Black, Olive Green, Caramel Brown, Midnight Black, Navy Blue, Stone Gray.

All of these options are genuine leather with technical ripstop fabric inside creating the accordion fan and lining. The Midnight Black and Stone Gray have a subtle grain to the leather whereas the other 4 options have more of a pebble texture. Measurements are H96 mm x W62 mm / 3.78″ x 2.45″. The thickness obviously depends on how much you’re putting in there. The construction will allows it to compress, but realistically you’ll end up right at about 1″ (25mm) loaded similarly to how I’ve done it.

As for that stash area or ‘secret compartment’ as they call it, there’s a plastic frame sewn inside to create the space. Dimensions are 46 x 72 x 2.6 mm, just right for a key, SD card, a couple bills or other small item.

What I like

• Grab any card quickly and easily without having to flip through
• Elastic strap keeps everything inside during a fumble
• Small size with room for a couple bills or a key, etc.

What I’d change

• An all ripstop fabric version would be killer.
• Only to make it even better, would like to see a solution that removes the elastic bulge from both outside pockets.

Final thoughts

You might think a wallet is just a wallet, but if you feel that way, I’m betting you haven’t found your wallet yet. Mbacco’s Wallet has become my mine. It holds as few or as many cards as I’m going to carry while still feeling small and compact, has RFID protection and the quick access to any card is hard to beat. Given the current sale, now is as good a time as any to give one a try.

Price: $55.00 (Currently on sale for $39.90)
Where to buy: Mbacco.com (save an additional 20% with that link)
Source: The sample of this product was provided by Mbacco.