Correct me if I'm wrong, but the "secure element" is ARM's TrustZone [1], that is found on every ARM Cortex-based device out there, right? Or is there anything special they are adding to some of the latest ARM SoC's in phones? If it's TrustZone, then Verizon has been lying about this from the very beginning.
Actually, this is untrue, and I know of no NFC ASIC with an integrated secure element (not NXP, nor Sony); the ASICs are typically just transceivers (the exception being an NXP ASIC with embedded MiFare). The SIM has been identified for a long time as the probable security element for NFC. However, this has long been a point of contention, and Gemalto (the largest SIM provider in the world) has been playing both sides quite evenly.
"Featuring a NFC radio controller and an embedded Secure Element, the PN65N is also fully validated and integrated on the latest release of Android™ 4.0."
Admittedly, my knowledge is a little bit out of date, but that is one chip out of several that I know over the last 7 years. You used the word "typically," and as you can imagine, the telcos have a preference for treating the SIM as the secure element because they control it; in the US the telcos dirve the majority of mobile sales.
This is a slightly sore subject as I worked for a startup that is now a zombie, having attempted to wait out the fight over who would control NFC payments (telco vs. credit card company).
[1] http://www.arm.com/products/processors/technologies/trustzon...
Application Examples for TrustZone:
• Secured PIN entry for enhanced user authentication in mobile payments & banking
• Anti-malware that is protected from software attack
• Digital Right Management
• Software license management
• Loyalty-based applications
• Access control of cloud-based documents
• e-Ticketing Mobile TV