Now, the mass adoption of smartphones and tablets has set the stage for a new move — away from fixed-point, card- and cash-based transactions and toward those completed on mobile. The old dream of the “digital wallet” is coming true in a very particular mobile-led fashion.

In a recent report from BI Intelligence,  we explain the main types of mobile payments, analyze the state of the mobile payments race, examine the matchup between card readers and near-field communications (NFC), look at how traditional banks, credit card companies, and card processors are responding to the mobile payments threat, and detail who is furthest along in developing the all-in-one solution for merchants and consumers.

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Here are 5 data points that help underscore the explosion:

• $640 million: eMarketer has estimated mobile payments as adding up to $640 million in transaction volume in the U.S., up from $170 million in 2011. However, this figure does not include swipes on mobile credit card readers like Square and PayPal Here, only consumer-side mobile payments in-store.
• $10 billion: Card readers are building real scale. Square’s mobile payments volume rose to $10 billion in 2012, up from $2 billion in 2011. Starbucks is switching its credit and debit card processing to Square, and as of January 2013 accepts the “Square Wallet” app at 7,000 locations. 
• $14 billion: PayPal’s mobile payments volume. Though much of that volume was from PayPal-enabled mobile commerce, and not in-store payments, that’s still evidence of mobile catching on as a transactional platform.
• 7.9 million: As of year-end 2012, only 7.9 million U.S. consumers (less than 10 percent of the total) had adopted a consumer-facing NFC-compatible system like “Google Wallet,” or apps that use QR codes or other methods to generate a payment. Starbucks reports that 10% of its U.S. transactions are already powered by smartphones, with consumers holding their phones up for codes to be scanned. Starbucks’s success shows that mobile payments can go mainstream.
• $3.95 trillion: With more than $3.95 trillion of non-cash transaction volume recorded in the U.S. alone in 2011, the stakes are high in this space.

One-fifth of iPhone owners already use Passbook to download “passes”— coupons, gift and loyalty cards, airline boarding passes, and movie and event tickets. It’s Apple’s attempt at a virtual wallet.

Large retailers — from Sephora to Target — and restaurant chains and Major League Baseball are already using it as a channel for acquiring and retaining customers.

So why don’t we hear more about Passbook?

In a new report from BI Intelligence, Business Insider’s paid subscription service, we look at the trends and numbers behind the Passbook ecosystem.

• What brands and retailers are present?
• How effective have Passbook campaigns been in driving consumer activity and raising brand awareness?
• How does it work? 

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The report includes over a half-dozen charts and datasets — and an ecosystem graphic — examining the intricacies of the Passbook ecosystem. Subscribers receive full access to the BI Intelligence library of over 100 in-depth reports on the mobile industry, and hundreds of datasets you can put to use.

In our report on Passbook, we also look at some misconceptions and underrated opportunities:

• The Passbook ecosystem is a valuable back-door for developers who would like to market their apps more aggressively, grab more visibility and achieve higher download numbers.
• Passbook passes can be generated by websites and/or with the help of third-party vendors, they don’t necessarily need to be created by custom Passbook-integrated apps.
• Passbook is well-positioned to seize on recent retailer and consumer enthusiasm for location-based services, mobile coupons, and mobile-powered loyalty programs.
• We include a handful of mini-case studies, and examine data that reveals how successful certain brands and retailers have been with Passbook.

We also discuss Passbook’s relationship with the burgeoning and competitive mobile payments space, and the uncertainty surrounding its future as a payments platform. 

Will Apple add a payment-processing capability, so that users can make “walletless” credit card payments with Passbook? Will it be joined with fingerprint-reading technology, the rumored authentication feature to be included in iPhone 5S?

Apple has over 500 million credit cards on file. We review what brands and retailers are doing to hook into the ecosystem and prepare for the possibility that Apple will one day leverage these credit card relationships and turn Passbook into a real transactions platform.

It also includes an examination of the top barriers to widespread Passbook adoption: namely, the chicken-and-egg problem that ties relatively low app publisher adoption to a lack of wider consumer awareness.

For full access to the report on Passbook sign up for a free trial subscription today.