Windows 8 Phone - access to NFC reader?

Question

Short question: Can I read credit card information with a NFC capable Windows Phone 8?

Long question: How does NFC with credit cards exatly work? The card (or the phone

Answer 1

Short answer: No. It's unlikely Credit card would work with WP8.

Long answer:

1. RFID vs. NFC: As far as I know most credit cards don't have NFC. They have RFID. Which one could say it's a "predecessor" technology to NFC. RFID is mostly non-standardized, has longer range than NFC and only supports one-way communication. Whereas NFC is an evolving standard, can be used in 2cm-4cm range and supports two-way communication. So, WP8 does not support RFID but it does support NFC.
2. RFID on WP8: All that being said, there's a chance that WP8 could identify some RFID tags. You might be able read byte[] from specific RFID tags in specific WP8 phones. Obviously, that's not recommended.
3. Secure NFC: One last thing is that some very exclusive partners in some very specific regions will have access to "Secure NFC". Secure NFC is a superset of NFC and adds the feature to store & transmit secure information via NFC from WP8. For example Secure NFC can store a Credit Card number or a bank account number as part of the WP8 Wallet. However, That will only work in regions where the mobile operator issues a "Smart SIM" (SIM capable of running applets), where the developer can author Java based Smart SIM applets, where the developer has an agreement with the mobile operator to deploy those applets over-the-air, where those WP8 apps have been cleared with Microsoft for the WP8 store and where there are dedicated retail HW terminals that can read them.