Small Step Towards Walletlessness
You probably haven't read but Google has purchased Softcard (formerly known as ISIS). Softcard is a mobile payment application (using NFC) that is owned by T-Mobile, Verizon, and AT&T. There is no doubt that this will lead to native support for Google Wallet (which Sprint already has). Starting later this year, Google Wallet will be pre-installed in Android phones for those providers.
This will hopefully increase the awareness of the mobile payment capabilities on Android phones. If you have Android phone, you may already have the ability to use Google Wallet. While Google's purchase of Softcard will increase competition with Apple Pay, I don't think it'll affect consumers' decision to choosing which phone they will buy especially since most people have never used tap-to-pay (at least in the present day). But this is definitely a step closer to making tap-to-pay payments mainstream. All iOS and Android (and Windows Mobile) users will definitely gain from the popularization of mobile payments; hopefully it will lead to the ultimately dream: Walletlessness
The push for tap-to-pay compatibility is definitely increasing; I've seen more and more places accepting mobile payments, even in smaller businesses. Some with devices like:
