The question now is whether members want one mobile payment option that works everywhere, or a phone full of apps that only work in specific places.

"I think we've all been riding with it for 12 years: 'We're going to have a wallet we can use to pay all our merchants.' It's just not a reality today," said Robb Gaynor, founder and chief product officer of the Austin, Texas-based Malauzai Software, which creates mobile banking apps.

The most popular example of this vision is Apple Pay, but only about 5% of iPhone users regularly use it, according to research from financial services company UBS.

"Apple Pay – look, they have a hundred and fourteen gazillion dollars in a war chest, and they could not figure out how to get 26 million merchants to accept," Gaynor said. "It's going to take a little while."

2. Credit unions shouldn't wait, either.

Credit unions – especially small ones – may find themselves wondering why they should bother investing time and money in a mobile payment app if it might have to compete against a bevy of retailers' apps.

But Richard Crone of Crone Consulting, an independent advisory firm that helps credit unions and banks create mobile payment strategies, has two simple reasons for why credit unions should still do it: Mobile payments is a $30 billion market, and the one that enrolls is the one that controls.

The potential annual advertising revenue from one member with an active mobile wallet is more than $300 per year, compared to $160 per year for demand deposit accounts, according to Crone and UBS.

But Crone said many of the industry's biggest service providers just aren't getting into the mobile wallet space.

"They could, but they aren't," he said. "Part of the reason is there are many moving parts on the payment side of things for a mobile wallet; you have to gain merchant acceptance, and right now the only entity representing the movement on a collective basis with merchants is CU Wallet."

Gaynor added, "If somebody is going to have a successful e-wallet, they are going to do it themselves. We need to redefine how we think about e-wallet and stop focusing on the consolidator model of paying all merchants, and go help some merchants one at a time. There we can gain traction this year."

Preston Packer, director of sales and marketing at the Salt Lake City, Utah-based FLEX, which provides core software to credit unions, noted he expects to see consolidation.

"I think the people that have the advantage are the ones that were to market first," Packer said.

3. It's not a one-and-done offering.

"The way you win in the app game is constantly having new functionality, refreshing and refining the use of interface, and bringing more relevant utility to the member," Crone said. "Most of these mobile banking providers are approaching it like servicing the old core systems. They might have a release one or two times a year, but the mobile wallet providers are in an agile development environment. They're coming out with new functions every one or two weeks."

It's also important to remember that mobile banking is not the same as mobile payments, experts warned. Both involve a smartphone, but mobile banking connects members to their accounts and card products. A mobile wallet connects those cards to the payment system.

Mobile banking is a gateway to mobile payments, however, according to a recent study by Fiserv. The number of products per consumer went up by 12% on average in the three months after mobile banking adoption, it found, and average monthly POS transactions rose by 19%. Fiserv also said monthly card transaction values spiked a whopping 46%, from $550 to $801 per month.

"The value of mobile banking users is incrementally higher," it reported. "However, if a consumer enrolls in mobile banking and never transacts on the channel, that value is lost. Once consumers are enrolled in mobile banking, strategies should focus on getting mobile bankers to use mobile bill pay or person-to-person payments, transfer money or make a deposit."

Crone added, "If payment is your most frequent service interaction and that is moving to mobile, then you better have it as a part of your mobile banking app."

4. Members need an education on mobile wallets.

Mass adoption of mobile payments, near field communication and contactless technology is still at least five years out, according to research published in June from financial technology firm Compass Plus.

"Mobile payments will be ubiquitous," Packer said. "They're not quite there yet, but it's coming. It's inevitable."

That means the first priority for many credit unions should be teaching members about mobile payments, he said.

"You want your members aware first of what it is and what it means to them," Packer said. "I think security is a great avenue to pursue. I'm talking to credit union customers of mine that pay $65,000 or more a year in fraud. If there's a tool that will allow your members to secure themselves against fraud, they want to know about it."

Of course, educating members about mobile payments requires having something to teach – and that comes from experience.

"The most important touch point you have with members is payment," Crone said. "Investing in mobile – we all know that that's where it's going. Even if you make a wrong turn along the way, you'll get to the destination faster than waiting at the train station and not getting on the train."