Multiple reports are adding fuel to the fire of rumors that Apple’s iPhone 5 will be embedded with a near field communication chip, a move that could shoot mobile payments into the stratosphere.

With corporate behemoths such as Starbucks Coffee Co. and McDonald’s Corp. leading the way, 50 percent of consumers will have made a mobile payment of some kind by 2014, according to Juniper Research.

If Apple enables the iPhone 5 with near field communication, it could signal a tipping point for contactless mobile payments.

Mobile banking usage is set to double in the next three years, reaching 400 million people by 2013, according to Juniper Research.

The value of digital and physical goods that consumers buy via their mobile devices is set to reach $200 billion globally by 2012, according to Juniper Research.

Nearly half of all mobile phone users worldwide will make mobile payments by 2014, according to Juniper Research.

Google has integrated mobile coupons into its Google Earth and Maps features providing brands the ability to serve location-based deals to consumers.

Juniper Research forecasts that one in every six mobile subscribers worldwide will have a Near-Field-Communication-enabled mobile device by 2014 and that NFC represents a $110 billion opportunity.

Mobile coupon redemption revenues will hit $6 billion by 2014, according to a new study by Juniper Research.