The Race For Mobile Payments

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Over the next 7 to 10 years, major tech, retail, and financial players will duke it out to make the "mobile wallet" a reality, allowing people to pay for everything with their smartphones. Whoever gets there best--not necessarily first, and almost certainly with partnerships--could theoretically control the multitrillion-dollar U.S. payments industry. Here's the likeliest battle trajectory, based on interviews with leading industry analysts.

Mobile Melle (click to view) 

A version of this article appears in the December 2011/January 2012 issue of Fast Company.