When Bill Gates speaks on a tech issue, it's best to pay attention. Earlier this month, he shared his thoughts on the mobile payments space and according to the Microsoft founder, NFC and Apple Pay are driving the industry into the future. 

Gates was recently interviewed by Bloomberg and the two sides discussed several topics. When Microsoft's long-time rival and its recent announcements regarding new smartphones, a smart watch and an NFC-based payment system were mentioned, Gates was enthusiastic in his answer, stressing that Apple is setting the bar for mobile payments.

"Apple Pay is a great example of how a cell phone that identifies its user in a pretty strong way [i.e. the fingerprint sensor] and lets you make a transaction that should be very, very inexpensive," he said. "So the fact that in any application I can buy something, that's fantastic. The fact I don't need a physical card anymore, I just do that transaction and you're going to be quite sure about who it is on the other end, that is a real contribution."

Gates is really only sharing a sentiment expressed by several other industry professionals before him. If Apple Pay succeeds due to its utilization of NFC technology, that could only mean that the industry will increasingly adopt that solution in the future. Apple has already changed the portable music player, cell phone and computing tablet industries, so it's not a stretch to assume it will do the same for payments. If this proves to be the case, retailers will want to work with a merchant services company that can ensure they are prepared to accommodate a growing number of customers who prefer to use NFC-enabled mobile devices to pay for their goods.