NFC is a superset of RFID...

NFC is a compatible superset of the RFID technology behind the Oyster/Octopus/etc cards used on public transport, and with current receiver chips there is no technological barrier to using an NFC-equipped phone as on a public transport payment system. The slow response may be because of the stupid payment applications doing everything "in the cloud", not the NFC technology itself.

NFC has other, non-payment uses, particularly when combined with Bluetooth - Nokia's Tap-to-Pair/Tap-to-Share and Google's "Beam" both use NFC to automate Bluetooth sharing and streaming . Of course, these are also not so useful if your phone can't do Bluetooth object exchange, but like NFC payments, that's not a technological problem either...