• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, February 25, 2014

It looks like we’re getting into the serious first phase of mobile payments.

With the annual Mobile World Congress in full swing in Barcelona, we could expect a slew of new announcements around all things mobile.

Samsung touted its new Galaxy S5, replete with fingerprint scanner and heart rate monitor, and Microsoft’s Nokia launched its first Android phones.

On the mobile commerce front, mobile payment platforms continued to play out.

MasterCard launched an in-app service to power payments inside the apps of others. The MasterPass service is intended to enable merchants and developers to incorporate the payment service into their own branded apps.

Meanwhile, Accenture launched a mobile wallet platform for businesses to offer to customers personalized recommendations in real time. With the Accenture Mobile Wallet system, consumers who opt in can be identified though geo-location features.

PayPal, no stranger to mobile payments, announced it would be the first payment provider on Samsung’s new SmartWatch.

And this small sampling of mobile payment schemes was from just yesterday.

There are now countless mobile payment and mobile wallet platforms either launched or in the process of launching around the world.

They generally all take security seriously, though some have more heritage there than others.

The creation and launching of these platforms is the first of three phases of where mobile payments are headed.

The second phase involves merchants deciding and adopting the mobile payment platform or platforms for them. In many cases, this is tougher than it looks, since new hardware or software may be required, often at great expense.

The third phase will be where the rubber hits the road. Consumers deciding on how they want to pay.

But phase 1 is a start.