One area that could really use some innovation is the financial industry. We’ve already begun to see some interesting developments in the form of Credit Card 2.0, where credit cards will take advantage of chips to become more useful than before. However, this is a far cry from eliminating the need for that credit card or wallet altogether. But is it possible?

With services like Square and Zetawire growing and companies like Google, Apple, and PayPal gaining interest in mobile payments, it seems like the future is already here; however, there are many obstacles that stand in the way of making this a reality. Most important is the cost to merchants to install the technology capable of processing these mobile payments, which would currently cost hundreds of dollars per cash register.

Popular opinion is that this will become a reality, eventually, but the adoption rate is going to be slow. It’s not difficult to imagine bustling metropolises like New York City and San Francisco to be some of the first to widely adopt this technology. However, if you live in the middle of nowhere, don’t get your hopes up anytime soon.