A report by US investment bank Morgan Stanley has tipped Apple to include NFC in its next iPhone models.

Analyst Craig Hettenbach said in a note obtained by AppleInsider that NFC has reached an “inflection point” thanks to partnerships, potential licensees and patent filings, including those by Apple itself.

Hettenbach noted the recent news that Apple is incorporating NFC into a hardware case developed by Verifone for its stores.

However, the NFC in that instance is being used to exchange information with NFC-based smartphones rather than accept payments.

In other evidence, the Morgan Stanley analyst cites a report that Apple had reached an agreement with China UnionPay on NFC-based payments. But neither company has confirmed the veracity of the report.

Hettenbach also talks through whether Apple would opt for an embedded implementation for NFC or a cloud-based approach based on host card emulation.

He argues the company’s focus on security means it would go the embedded route. Due to its massive user base and relationships with operators, Hettenbach believes Apple might be able to establish its presence on handsets.

Rumours have circulated previously around NFC’s inclusion on the iPhone with nothing concrete occurring.

Apple has appeared to tiptoe around mobile payments, having launched Passbook, a wallet for tickets and passes without a payments capability, as well as a built-in fingerprint sensor which could be used to authenticate a user’s identity for mobile payments. The sensor can already be used to authenticate purchases on iTunes and the App Store.