Announcements like the NAB/Telstra launch of a NFC mobile phone payments trial often invite and attract journalists from a diverse range of media outlets. Invariably the audience leaves somewhat deflated when it becomes clear that we are not actually witnessing the dawn of the cashless economy today.Yesterday's effort wasn't over-hyped, but there were still the same old statements about the imminent demise of cash.The business case seems to be that "Eighteen- to 24-year-olds, early adopters and office workers will drive demand for NFC mobile payments," said Lisa Gray, NAB's chief operating officer, retail banking. Gray told the assembled journos, including a crew from MTV, that the system could support debit and prepaid cards as well as credit. So we can look forward to the end of small change in pockets, she explained.NFC mobile contactless payments will not be broadly available until about 2013, says Juniper Research, a UK-based telecom consultancy that specialises in the mobile and wireless sector. Even then it is unlikely that there will be much presence in Australia."Limited numbers of NFC devices will start to be shipped from 2009 (except in the Far East and China region), but the market will begin to ramp up from 2010 onwards and by 2013 one in five phones will possess NFC capability," says Juniper's report, "Payment Markets Contactless NFC 2008 -2013", published last month.Currently the Sagem is the only NFC handset in production but it is not available for retail sale. Judging by the clunky look and very limited features of the phone, it would be hard pressed to compete for the hearts and minds of tech-savvy young people if it was."I wouldn't call it a prototype, but it isn't on the market yet," said Sam Skontos, General Manager, Mobile Communications for Sagem, yesterday.Even in 2013, ninety per cent of an estimated $75 billion dollars worth of NFC mobile payments will be happening in Asia, North America and Western Europe, says Juniper. Yesterday no one was prepared to speculate on when Australian banks might begin rolling out NFC mobile payments."That all depends on building networks and interoperability," said David Thodey, Telstra's group managing director, enterprise and government.In the future, said Thodey, Telstra wanted its customers to be able to selectively add cards or bank accounts to their phones.That seems, as ever, to be a distant future.