If mobile operators are able to overcome certain barriers, they could look at a $142 billion spike in revenue by 2020, according to a new report from DOCOMO Digital and Ovum Research, entitled "Mindset changes and stakeholder collaboration are needed to let carrier-billed payments reach their full potential."

If operators, vendors and regulators are unable to remove those barriers, carrier driven payments' portion of the m-commerce pie will drop from 4.1 percent to 0.8 percent. According to Hiroyuki Sato, CEO of DOCOMO Digital, operators have the technology needed to reach their fullest potential.

"Phone penetration of the global adult population is reaching parity and smartphones will soon be the ubiquitous connected device, so it makes sense that more and more people will want to use their mobile device to pay for goods and services," Sato said. "Mobile commerce is very important to operators but if the barriers remain in place, they could lose out on a multi-billion dollar market."

Users can request a copy of the report from Ovum Research.