I think most of the mall wallets are made out of genuine bonded leather. It doesn't cost that much more to get a custom job depending on your leather choices.Veg tanned cowhide.....like someone mentioned baker's is fantastic, but most of the people who make such wallets are in the UK. I own pretty much all kind of leathers and I find the baker's is best of the lot. But to your point, cowhide is not any worse than other leathers.