Does Apple have to provide authorisation for the iPhone NFC to be used as a transport Smart Card? My understanding is that it is possible to use the iPhone for payments on 'the underground' in London as a replacement for the Oyster card. Also that the NFC chip is used in this. 

The potential exists to use this system in other Smart Card transport systems in Singapore and Sydney. 

My question is: Does Apple have to provide authorization for the iPhone NFC to be used as a transport Smart Card?
Apple does not allow developers to interact with the internal NFC chip at this moment.

Currently the only extendable Apple SDK for this type of system is Wallet (formerly PassBook). If your local transport station has an option to scan barcodes you can use third party tools to add your transportation pass barcode to Wallet.