Apple Pay today widens the door opened by Google Wallet
As Apple suggests, Apple Pay is already "accepted at 220,000 stores and counting." The icon you see here is not made by Apple, it’s a standard NFC checkout logo. This logo exists out in the wild already, and has existed for some months in some places, and years in others.
... Apple does not have their own hardware implanted in any of these stores - they interact with NFC-based technology that’s swiftly becoming universal.
Apple Pay today widens the door opened by Google Wallet - SlashGear
So if I am understanding this correctly, the NFC payment nodes used at those stores are not exclusive to Apple. They are generic and only require a phone with NFC.