Earlier ITT, someone mentioned that there was no benefit to using Google Wallet or ISIS because both were slower than Apple Pay. Later, another person responded that they thought the ultimate vision was that all of these soft-wallet apps would one day replace plastic, and in short order the discussion just ended without resolution.
I found this strange as I assumed the single largest purpose was to increase the security of credit card transactions. As vulnerable as credit card numbers are, (ridiculously so) every year it seems a baker's dozen companies lose everybody's data, forcing them to have to get a new card number - if not more.
Passing encrypted data back and forth instead of card numbers at least temporarily solves that hackability issue. Granted, the general public doesn't know this, but public awareness of security vulnerabilities in credit cards (especially store credit) is rising. Every time a new big retailer is "hacked", people wonder why and get more and more tired of it.
I would be willing to bet that's a big part of the reason (Other than Apple's marketing effort) NFC has gained traction recently.