In the Darknet, it is rather easy to find (if you search well) for sale list of valid credit card numbers (in large quantities). They allow to perform purchase on the Net for instance, or to recreate some swipe cards. Usually, banks detect these frauds rather quickly by using pattern analysis. When your purchasing scheme deviates from your usual habits, banks react and check. Be aware that the card numbers are not only collected by breach in merchant servers, but also by skimming cards during legitimate transactions.
BTW,I suppose that you refer to 2010 Cambridge paper. Ross Anderson's team is great. You should read their latest hack on EMV implying skimming
http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/unattack.pdf About NFC chips, I don't believe that it will be claimed to be more secure. It will be claimed to be more convenient for the user.
