Agreed. It's evident that traditional card issuers are pushing back against Apple/Google/Samsung intruding on their revenue stream, and if phone payment loses momentum it could easily be relegated to niche status which is unlikely to deliver long term profits.
Considering how many banks and credit unions in the US signed on with Apple, I'm not sure they feel threatened. In fact, I think banks in the US weren't going to bother with contactless payment at all until Apple showed up due to past failures of the technology to get traction.