Verizon won't let phones access their network if Google Wallet can be installed. That is significantly different from every other network.
Well I think this is the general thinking that is stopping adoption moving forward. Its one of those things that doesn't provide a small incremental value, but in the overall big picture is a huge convenience. When you look at countries like Japan and Korea that has widely adopted NFC for just about everything, its a convenience that you carry around a lot less and everything is integrated in one spot. Google Wallet is just the beginning
For some people with multiple cards to be used in different stores for example Costco only accepts american express and thats the only store I will use it at, a system like Google wallet simplifies the management of having multiple cards.
I don't actually have a NFC phone until xmas, so I don't know if it does all of that already anyway.
For reference, square gives me the heebie-jeebies. Oh sure, swipe my card into the freaking audio jack your cell phone running who-knows-what software you've got on there and let me smear my finger to make some sort of unintelligible mark on your screen that counts as a "signature". So basically all you need is an audio chirp played over 3.5mm and some indistinct finger dragging to make a purchase. Right. Sign me up...
Google Wallet has a PIN code on open.
That's not true. I use a sideloaded Google Wallet on a Verizon Galaxy Nexus just fine.