Richard Crone

The chatter coming from the industry near the end of last year was that 2011 would be when mobile card acceptance and payments finally emerge as legitimate experiences for consumers and merchants in the United States. That proved to be partly true. Companies such as Square Inc. and Starbucks Corp. made waves in the market without relying on Near Field Communication, which some say is necessary for mobile payments to emerge on a wide scale. Google Inc. launched its wallet, albeit in a limited rollout. Isis gained pivotal partnerships with key industry players but has yet to test its