That's understandable, as NFC and mobile payments have been grouped together by analysts, pundits, researchers and retailers since the short-range wireless technology first started making headlines in the early 2000s. (The first mobile phone with built-in NFC, , launched in 2007.)

But the truth is NFC has a lot more to offer than just mobile payments. In fact, it will very likely be years before any sort of NFC-based payment system goes mainstream, according to a new report from technology research firm Forrester Research. Though Forrester predicts 100 million NFC-enabled mobile devices will ship this year, the company says NFC won't reach critical mass, or be used by 15 percent to 25 percent of the global population, for at least three to five years.

"We see NFC as merely a technology enabler for several types of mobile contactless services; we don't believe the majority of consumers will use mobile contactless payments before the end of the decade, even in the most developed countries like Poland and the UK," writes Forrester's Analyst Thomas Husson in the report, entitled "."

So how exactly will NFC be used in those hundreds of millions of smartphones during the coming years? Here's a look at Forrester's predicted NFC uses along with examples of current, real-world ways that's NFC is already employed by enterprises, governments, academic organizations, marketers, retailers and consumers.