NFC is being used by eg NTT DoCoMo in Japan where NTT holds a banking license.
Apart from Japan, of note there is a Citibank / Vodafone NFC JV. This JV covers existing scheme cards operating under scheme rules.
The two most obvious routes are:
1. The Japanese off scheme path: Maximises value to the Operator eg Telstra. Maximises set up costs and customer incentives to takeup. The key challenge is building a merchant acquiring base. That IS hard.
2. The JV route: This is feasible and is likely to occur in Australia. Only thing is there is a limited role for the telco operator. It uses the bank's card coded on an NFC chip in a handset and the bank's existing merchant acquiring systems upgraded to read NFC. The Telco hosts and services merchant acquiror and bank applications and content based on NFC use eg loyalty and security / purchase confirmations.... That's pretty much it.
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