In many ways, the cashless economy should already use contactless payment systems, with near field communication as the current standard. In most developed nations, such systems have already been rolled out to many retailers. Convenience stores, for example, commonly offer the ability to use a smartphone or NFC-equipped cards to simply tap the payment receiver and go on their way. Major credit card issuers offer such capabilities as a part of smart cards with Android being the most popular mobile operating system for this technology.

However, NFC payment systems may suffer from a lack of consumer trust. In some cases, it may also take longer for consumers to take a smartphone out and open the appropriate application than simply using a debit or credit card to pay the conventional way.

Apple’s new watch - perhaps named the iTime - may be intended to change that.

As indicated in Apple’s recently-revealed patent application, Apple’s smart watch could include an NFC transmitter in the band, a function that Apple has ignored in its previous devices. While this is not the only application to make use of NFC, the iTime may be Apple's way of addressing most of the concerns about the use of NFC in making small payments. A wrist-based NFC transmitter could address the convenience issues of using NFC payments via smartphones.