With tax time rapidly approaching, the idea of just how much money the government takes in becomes center-stage.

But a strange set of events is coming together to make government income connect to an unlikely platform: mobile payments. This connection is actually leading some to suggest that government agencies may prove to be leading the next big thing in mobile payments, an assertion that’s being given plenty of backup.

Given that mobile phone subscriptions worldwide are approximately equal to people on the planet—there are some duplicates and corporate accounts in there to consider, but we’re still talking seven billion subscriptions on the planet—that’s got governments thinking that maybe the new weapon of choice when it comes to payment systems should be none other than mobile payments.

Bringing mobile payments into the government payments arena is likely to prove a useful proposition, if for no other reason than it should speed up operations.

When operations move faster, particularly government operations, that improves efficiency, allowing more to be done in the same amount of time.

That means a clear value-add as resource consumption drops without a measurable drop in capability. This makes particular sense in places like motor vehicle divisions, as a lot of cash changes hands in those places. Using mobile payments, in turn, speeds up the process notably. Such systems can also serve value in terms of identity verification as well, adding still more value, and most importantly, cutting down on excruciatingly long wait times.

But while the value is clear, it’s not necessarily going to be enough to put it in place. However, a clearer value is on hand here from sheer consumer demand.

Consumers are going to expect government offices to have the mobile payment systems as said consumers will be able to put these tools to work everywhere else, so if government agencies lag, that will likely result in consumers demanding that governments put these tools in place just to keep up.

There’s a lot of value in such a proposition. After all, everyone likes the thought of a less wasteful government, especially given that we pay for it.

If the government takes less money to work, then we keep more of our tax dollars without losing services. That’s a win-win proposition no matter how you slice it, and mobile payments can be a part of it. A second saved here, a minute there, across several hundred government offices adds up eventually.

Considering how well mobile payment systems can be secured, that also offers up some real value for users; government records hold a lot of personally-identifiable information, particularly so given how much of it those offices originate.

So protecting that data-which mobile payments do pretty well-and offering fast and simple payment options makes for a great package in the end.