Technologies such as Apple Pay are driving increased adoption of NFC-based mobile payments, and the industry is expected to grow significantly over the course of the next few years. According to a report from Strategy Analytics, the NFC mobile payment market will exceed $130 billion by 2020. 

This is encouraging news for an industry that took longer than initially expected to get off the ground. For years, there was talk that Apple's iPhone would contain the NFC technology needed to facilitate mobile payments at retail stores and restaurants, but it was only this year when the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus came out that the technology was finally included in the popular line of smartphones. Now that NFC is becoming more mainstream, it's expected to only grow exponentially over the course of the next five-plus years.

Nitesh Patel, the director of wireless media strategies for Strategy Analytics, reiterated this point in a conversation with the online publication Retail Customer Experience.

"The launch of Apple Pay is significant because it means all major smartphone vendors support NFC-based mobile payments, but it also provides a credibility boost for the NFC payments sector as a whole. Furthermore, continued efforts by payment networks — for example MasterCard has set a target of all MasterCard payment points supporting NFC in Europe by 2020 — will be crucial in stimulating its use and adoption."

Organizations must make sure they are prepared to handle a wave of NFC-enabled mobile payments. Merchant services provider Vantage can help with personal, professional consultations on a vast array of payment technologies.