It's easy to concede that no onereally has all the answers when it comes to mobile wallets. Willmerchants begin rolling out mobile commerce in appreciable numbers?Will Apple include NFC on the iPhone 6? Will a dominant walletproduct emerge at last?

With even experts uncertain, maybe it's time to consider whetherthese questions are relevant in the first place. Instead, perhapscredit unions should be asking different questions:

• What can we do today to participate in mobile payments?
• Which of today's players will be relevant to our credit union'ssuccess, specifically?
• What mobile payments features would our members like and usenow?
• How do we incent our members to include us in their mobilepayment journey?
• Can we use mobile to build loyalty?
• How can we create systems that will evolve with this rapidlychanging space?

Mobile payments are certainly the future of payments. Butwholesale change in the payments space never happens overnight.Consider this from Javelin Strategy & Research:

“With an annual U.S. retail POS market of almost $4 trillion upfor grabs, the stakes are extremely high. But slow adoption, lackof merchant enthusiasm, fragmented offerings and blocking bycompetitors has resulted in stalled growth for mobile wallets.”

Is there any way consumers wouldn't be confused, given theenvironment?

There are plenty of options for credit unions within themobile payments space, but diving headlong into the wallet warsdoesn't seem like a good one – at least for now.

Go Where You Can. Where should credit unionsfocus their energy? The simplest starting point: Get your cardsinto everyone's wallets, some leading options of which werehighlighted by Ryan Zilker in a July 16 opinion piece in CU Times.

Incentivizing mobile wallet transactions is a no-fuss way tointegrate your cards into a variety of existing mobile walletproducts–and to help your members associate your credit union withmobile payments. Make sure your card programs are competitive. Doyou offer the best rewards? The most attractive rates and fees? Thebest way to move your card to the top of the wallet–any wallet–isto make it the most attractive one there.

At the same time, think about the development of new paymentalternatives as a mobile engagement challenge. Instead of focusingon issues beyond your immediate control like merchant adoption, youcan turn your attention to issues you can address, such as mobilepayments. As an added bonus, shoring up your mobile offerings canhelp you build loyalty.

Credit unions can provide members with the mobile access theywant and need: mobile banking, account transfers, alerts, real-timeP2P payments and mobile check deposits.

New technology will provide even greater utility. For example,CO-OP will soon offer users control of their payment cards viatheir mobile devices, enabling them to set usage limits and receivesecurity alerts, making their accounts more interactive anduseful.

Put Time on Your Side. Credit unions also needto consider real-time payments. Faster payments may be the mostintuitive selling point there is. Who doesn't want to be paidfaster? A survey conducted by the Fed earlier this year found 69%of consumers and 75% of businesses want real-time orwithin-the-hour payments.

In addition, FIS found that 55% of consumers want real-timepayments from their primary financial institutions – and not cardor alternative providers. Offering your members faster payments notonly capitalizes on their trust, but also enhances it through agreater user experience.

In fact, the Fed is currently working on a faster paymentsinitiative. The goal is to create a real-time payments networkwithin the next 10 years. But, who wants to wait 10 years?

Where technology is marketable and available now, put time onyour side. While you can't offer your members auniversally-accepted wallet product now, you can move towardreal-time payments – in the real, foreseeable future. That's notonly a benefit, but also a differentiator.

Again, credit unions are not in the driver's seat on manywallet-critical issues. But on key features and capabilities, youcan actually lead the pack. Doing so is a little like building awallet from the inside out. Win the day on mobile payments, cardcontrols, mobile usage and loyalty, and card programs, and you'llbe sure to be in the mix when member mobile wallet adoptionfollows.

What seems most likely is that the mobile wallet and paymentsspace will continue to be in flux – most likely for a long time.For credit unions, the smartest strategy may well be one thatincludes – but doesn't revolve around – wallets themselves. Rather,gearing up for speed, innovation and change is the best place toput your money.

Amanda Smith is senior manager of technology and innovationfor CO-OP Financial Servicesin Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. CONTACT: (800) 782-9042, ext. 1222, or[email protected].