Start-ups such as Square but also retailers, internet and tech giants such as Google, Alibaba and Apple are fighting for market share.  Square makes a small device firms can use in conjunction with an app to turn any smartphone into a credit card reader. The firm has received a lot of attention on Wall Street, even from banks whose traditional payment methods it challenges. The group became the latest mobile payments company to secure credit in a deal announced over the weekend.  Read MoreSquare secures credit in 'low hundreds of millions'  In China, internet provider Tencent and online shopping giant Alibaba, which is expected to list in New York later this year with initial valuations reaching as much as $250 billion, both have mobile wallet offerings and incentivize users to pay digitally with free cash credit. The wallets allow users to put money on their phones to spend in-store. Taxi apps, which locate the user and minicabs in the area to offer a quote, have been instrumental in driving growth in mobile payments.  Swiss & Global fund manager Jian Shi Cortesi, who runs a Chinese equity fund, said taxi apps are predominantly being used to educate users how to pay for things using their smartphones.  "We are seeing the daily volumes under these [taxi app] campaigns rising to 700,000 Tencent users a day and 300,000 Alibaba per day. That is a really high number," she told CNBC.  Read MoreAlibaba valued at up to $250 billion in grey market bids  "Alibaba and Tencent actually give people cash," she added, in an effort to encourage people to adopt the technology.  Square is currently valued at around $5 million, following around $200 million in additional capital it bagged last weekend.  Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey is said to be meeting with banks about a potential public offering for Square.
Those pesky coins weighing you down could soon be a thing of the past, at least that is what many investors are banking on.