I'm missing something. I've never had a chance to use NFC to pay for anything yet and today at lunch I found that the restaurant had new terminals with the capability but it was too late since I had already swiped my card. I was planning on trying it out next time using my new HTC One M8 and MS wallet.
Is this not a capability on WP 8.1?
It is not native to Windows Phone.
I can only speak to the US. Here the Carriers got together and decided they would not support tap-to-pay as a security risk (read: they could not get their fingers in the pie without intervening). The US carriers as a whole moved to block it at the carrier level.
Google found a workaround and baked it into Kit Kat. They have a software authentication security protocol to protect against fraud. Apple implemented a fingerprint scan for security. Carriers have no legitimate reason to hinder these methods.
Meanwhile... When first moving to block tap-to-pay, 3 of the 4 major US carriers formed a consortium to implement tap-to-pay under their auspices and SoftCard (formerly Isis) was born. SoftCard quickly made an App for Android. One for iOS was not needed as iOS did not have NFC until this current generation of device.
Windows Phone SoftCard lagged behind for forever. It has finally released on Verizon and AT&T. The third party in the consortium, T-Mobile, has not yet seen a SoftCard App appear. Here's the rub. To use SoftCard, you need a "secure" SIM from your carrier. You also need a branded phone. This is far from ideal.