There was big news in the mobile payment landscape at the end of last month as PayPal acquired Braintree—a company that specializes in mobile transactions. This is another example of the feeling that mobile devices will play a major role in the future of consumer payments.

BI Intelligence released the results of a study that looked at the main reasons for this trend. The numbers show that overall, mobile commerce is still in its early stages as only 7.9 million U.S. consumers have an NFC-compatible system. That equates to less than 9 percent of the market.

Despite that, in-store mobile payments nearly quadrupled last year. On top of that, smartphone and tablet POS systems have penetrated more deeply into the retail sector for both small businesses and larger enterprises. The report forecasts that by 2017, global offline transactions through mobile devices will reach $1.5 trillion, which is up from $120 billion in 2012.

A Business Insider article took a closer look at the results of the study.

"Mobile devices are edging closer to fulfilling their long-delayed promise as digital wallets, and tech and financial services players do not want to be left out," the article reads. "Consumers and merchants are beginning to see the advantage of channeling offline payments through mobile devices, rather than transacting in coins and cash, credit cards — or clunky register systems."

With the help of a retail payment solution provider, any merchant can start moving into the future and implement a mobile commerce solution.