The industry has been talking about mobile payments for a while now. There has certainly been a lot of jockeying among merchants, banks, card processors and others. So far the technology resides mainly within a few pilot programs, but there are some who feel the idea is gathering momentum.

Some think the recession may even spur greater adoption. One executive tells American Banker that the new restraint on spending may result in new spending behavior patterns. More people may be inclined to experiment with alternatives to credit cards. Debit cards will certainly gain but so might mobile payments--many are counting on this to happen.

Some retailers are investing in new point of sale systems to accept contactless cards and mobile phones with embedded payment chips soon. Phones that can handle these sorts of transactions will start arriving in the U.S. next year.

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