Mobile Payments Getting Popular: Consumers Find Safe, Easy Way to Shop

The mobile commerce space has seen an increase in attention lately as security and mobile app development have increased. More people are now trusting their mobile devices to help them pay for items rather than carrying cash of swiping payment cards.

The latest headlines are attributing this increase in mobile payments to consumer trust and convenience of available devices.

Mobile payment devices assist with making purchases using a mobile device and already have some key players in the space. Apple (News - Alert), Google, NXT-ID and others have made notable moves.

Next week, NXT-ID will begin shipping pre-orders of its Wocket Smart Wallet which works with current payment systems and makes it possible to combine up to 10,000 cards into one safe WocketCard. Not only does this ease the burden of carrying around many cards, but the offering also includes identity protection with biometric voice security.

Apple is making its own aggressive play in this space by teaming up with major credit card providers: MasterCard, Visa, American Express (News - Alert) and Discover (coming this fall), allow users to simply add their card info to the Apple Pay system instead of carrying around and having to use physical payment cards.

Google and other well-known companies like PayPal and even Microsoft (News - Alert)-owned Skype have also announced ways they are protecting and offering mobile payment capabilities for customers. As these announcements continue to be made, the market will see increased interest and buy-in from consumers.

In fact, recent research from Strategy Analytics (News - Alert) notes that payments made by NFC-enabled mobile handsets will account for $130 billion in consumer spending worldwide by 2020. To translate that further, 254 million mobile users will be making five payments per month at around $9 per transaction.