It’s no secret that people of all ages are becoming increasingly attached to their mobile phones, and if your organization doesn’t have a strategy for getting them to use their device to give you money, you’re likely to soon be out of a very lucrative loop.

Tech analysts almost all agree on this new and fast-moving trend.

A June study by Deloitte found that 58% of consumers who own a smartphone have used it for checking and comparing prices while they shop. The same study reported that mobile will influence more than $159 billion in sales this year. Gartner predicts that will reach $617 billion by 2016.

In a Forrester survey released in August of about 7,600 U.S. adults, 30% of mobile-phone users expressed interest in paying by phone. More tellingly, 65% of consumers age 25 to 34 have reported already using their smartphones to shop.

All this points to a need for company finance leaders to keep a close eye on how the organization’s IT team, marketing and sales folks are helping customers and clients easily pay for goods and services using a mobile device. Whether its by a custom app or a mobile-optimized website, letting folks pay you by mobile looks like the wave of the future.

You can read more about your options and developments in this tech arena at CFO.

Tags: CFO, Forrester, Gartner, mobile payment