Those with a history in the mobile payments industry know that it has been a slow (and mostly disappointing) journey. But now, reflecting on the current ecosystem forces at play, I believe we find ourselves surrounded by a set of market trends that can finally give mobile payments a viable path to scale. Over the years, formidable companies have failed in this space. Not because they went bankrupt, but because they are now executing on significantly less ambitious visions. These visions include a focus on smaller market niches, and not going after the replacement of plastic transactions at the point of sale, which remain the lion’s share of transaction volume in developed markets.