In New York City last week, Retail's Big Show 2013 - the National Retail Federation (NRF) convention and EXPO - was held, which features many innovations on display that could play a part in future payment features. One of the major areas of conversation on the showroom floor was the impact of mobile payments.

According to recent Forrester Research forecasts, the U.S. mobile payment industry will reach $90 billion in 2017. That is a increase of 48 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from the $12.8 billion that was spend in 2012.

Denee Carrington - the main author of the report - recapped the survey in a recent Forbes article. She laid out some of the trends that will play a major role in the growth of mobile payments in the next four years.

"Mobile proximity payments are currently the smallest category within mobile payments, but we expect it to be the fastest growing," wrote Carrington. "Proximity payments will reach $41 [billion], making up nearly half of all mobile payments in 2017. Lower barriers to adoption, increased convenience, and early entrants striving for scale will be important drivers of growth."

Carrington went on to say that 2013 will feature major shifts in the market as some solutions gain favor and others fade away. Heightened competition and expectations from consumers and merchants alike will lead to many innovative solutions becoming available.

This is going to be an interesting year for the mobile payment industry for both the B2C and B2B markets. As technology continues to make it easier for consumers and businesses to adopt mCommerce practices, it will make it a solution that organizations in any sphere will not be able to ignore.