I can see NFC being used for more than payments before wireless payments (by phone) properly take off - as there are a number of reasons for it taking off slowly, which are primarily political - as in operators wanting a cut, security concerns etc. That aspect is a mess and some operators are trying (e.g. Orange and O2) with very limited success. It works fine for a bank issued card, or the stickers you can put on your phone (from the likes of Barclaycard) because the bank doesn't have to negotiate with a phone manufacturer or operator.
So, I still think tapping a TVM to send your code/booking details is easier in the short term. It's easy to change things later when they do all see eye to eye on things, as it's just software.
There are many NFC enabled mobile phones now on sale, from Samsung, Sony, HTC, Motorola, RIM, Nokia and more. They're here now, and have been on sale for some time (many since 2011). Apple hasn't, however, which is probably why people perceive it as not taking off - but even Apple will adopt NFC in due course, that's guaranteed. It's simply trying to sort out its own deals, and will probably succeed where other manufacturers and operators have not.
There are many benefits of NFC besides paying for goods or travel. There's an app for Android that, for example, lets you see what tickets are stored on your smartcard (as used by some TOCs). One of the first apps I got was one to read the balance on my Hong Kong Octopus card.
There's nothing for Oyster as yet, but it would be quite useful for a lot of people if you could check your balance or journey history by touching your card. I'm quite happy to have a separate Oyster card than having it in my phone, so this is a nice way to 'link' things.
I also expect you to be able to purchase a ticket via your smartphone (or perhaps a PC and then have it sent via email to your phone) and you then tap your phone against your smartcard to transfer the ticket. As such, you don't need a smartcard that has loads of credit on it - as it can just store tickets you've purchased by other means - even someone else paying for you, so you could 'gift' a ticket to anyone.
For consumers, NFC also allows you to tap two phones together and transfer music, pictures and video - as well as connecting to accessories (via Bluetooth) without needing to pair. Simply touching the device tells it who you are and allows a secure pairing to be created.
There's NFC tags to send information/links on advertisements, to read smart tags on products in shops and much more.
NFC will catch on I promise! First off, make sure the next phone you buy has NFC in it!
