From the BlackBerry Developer’s Blog…

“In terms of NFC as an emerging technology, one thing that’s important to understand is that it’s not restricted to payment-related functions. As a developer, you can utilize NFC in a number of interesting ways, from tag-reading smart posters to emulating something like a campus card.”

NFC is a big deal, and it’s ability to replace a corporate/student ID is far more useful then its ability to replace a credit card.