It’s really no question that the new “it” topic of the mobile world is NFC, and how/when it will become a common occurrence in both devices and in retail stores. Slowly but surely manufacturers are hopping the bandwagon, implementing the technology into their new releases and forthcoming releases. As for the merchants who will handle the payment processing, word comes today from Reuters that Visa - who is no stranger to mobile payments - is accelerating its efforts to dominate the mobile payment space and become the go-to merchant service for partners.

Visa’s global head of product Jim McCarty had this to say:

“As mobile payments and other chip-based emerging technologies are poised to take off in the coming years, we are taking steps today to create a commercial framework that will support growth opportunities,”

So you may be asking yourself: “what does this mean to me?” and the answer is very simple: the faster Visa - already the world’s largest payment processor - can implement NFC functionality into stores/retail partners, the faster you can throw away your wallet and start using your new phone (with NFC capabilities, obviously) to make payments everywhere you go.

[via Reuters]