Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft to become your wallet soon

Mobile devices are radically changing our lives. As mobile ownership grows, so does the role these devices play in improving and enhancing the travel experience. Two of the fastest-growing areas in mobile technology are m-payments (mobile payments) and the use of Near Field Communications (NFC).

Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft and others have their eyes on the NFC mobile payment market, setting the stage for a potentially brutal battle over the future of payments, a Mashable report established.

NFC, or near-field communication, allows for wireless transfer of data over short distances between two devices. This makes it an ideal technology for financial transactions between a phone and a device at a brick-and-mortar store.

Amazon is working on a mobile payments product based on near-field communications technology (NFC), which would let you pay for stuff at the counter by waving your phone in front of a receiver, Bloomberg writes.

A lot of companies are betting that 2011 is the year NFC takes off in the U.S., and are working on their own NFC payment solutions. This list includes some very big players:

Google: The search giant may be the farthest along of the big companies. Android already includes NFC support, but most Android phones don't yet carry NFC chips.

Apple: The iPhone maker is reportedly considering adding NFC to the iPhone 5, though rumors that it would be added to the iPad 2 turned out to be false.

AT&T, Verizon & T-Mobile: Three of the four major networks teamed up last year to announce Isis, a joint venture between the networks to facilitate the addition of NFC technology into their phones.

Amazon: The ecommerce giant is reportedly exploring the idea of its own mobile payment service to compete with Apple and Google.

Microsoft: The software giant is also reportedly getting into the mobile payments game.